The Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday night to publicly reprimand colleague Tommy Hunter.

The decision followed the recommendation of the county's first-ever ethics board, which voted earlier this month to sustain the ethics complaint against Hunter, who has been under fire since calling civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis a "racist pig" on Facebook.

A public reprimand was the stiffest possible penalty available under Gwinnett's ethics ordinance. It will involve posting a written rebuke on the county's website, on the wall of the courthouse and in the local newspaper.

The complaint was filed Feb. 6 by Atlanta woman Nancie Turner. It argued that Hunter's social media activity — which also included calling Democrats "Demonrats" and "libtards" — violated several tenets of the county's 2011 ethics ordinance.

Hunter did not attend Tuesday night’s meeting, which included a public hearing. Anti-Hunter protesters spoke for the full hour allotted to them.

No one spoke in support of Hunter.

Read full coverage of Tuesday night’s emotional meeting at myAJC.com.

Video from previous ethics board hearing:

RAW: Gwinnett Commissioner Tommy Hunter declines to answer questions at ethics hearing

About the Author

Keep Reading

Officers arrive at the scene of a police shooting near Sandy Springs Charter Middle School on Tuesday. One officer was injured, and a suspect was taken into custody, authorities said. (Arvin Temkar / AJC)

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Featured

Mathew Palmer, a former Delta Air Lines employee, at his home in Atlanta on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025.  Palmer was fired less than two weeks after writing a post on social media about the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. (Natrice Miller/AJC)