There’s a man with a gun over there. Telling me I got to beware.
— Buffalo Springfield
Since last Tuesday, there have been social media posts that have resulted in the suspension and resignation of law enforcement officers. The reports span several states. Some of these posts have promoted violence and conspiracy theories pertaining to the election. In other stories police officers have promoted political ideologies without recourse.
In Marshall Arkansas, the city’s Police Chief Lang Holland allegedly posted statements about shooting members of Antifa and Black Lives Matter, in addition to disparaging comments on transgender people. He has since resigned.
Another instance, Flomaton, Alabama Police Captain Scott Walden resigned after allegedly posting that people who voted for President-Elect Joe Biden needed to be executed. According to the Mayor of Flomaton, this was not the first time that concerns were raised over Walden’s social media posts.
The news comes on the heels of the reporting by Manual RedEye, a high school news outlet in Louisville Kentucky. Their investigation uncovered training materials used by the Kentucky State Police. Quotes from Adolf Hitler and Robert E Lee appeared in the slideshow that was used to train new recruits. The Kentucky State Police commissioner resigned after the story broke last week.
Again in Kentucky, a “Trump Train” was organized on social media by a group that included two Somerset Police officers. Onlookers reported that the participants in the parade on US 27 were allowed to ignore traffic signals and caused a disruption along the busy highway in the South Central Kentucky town. There were no actions taken against the organizers of the event.
