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

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens speaks next to Chief of Staff / Chief Policy Officer Courtney English during press conference to unveil the Neighborhood Reinvestment Initiative in the atrium at Atlanta City Hall, Tuesday, September 30, 2025, in Atlanta. (Jason Getz/AJC)

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Featured

The DeKalb school district is suing to recover money spent on cellphone lockers, plus money spent on implementing social media guidelines and hosting associated events, lost teaching time and to hire extra school counselors. (The New York Times file)

Credit: NYT