Tenn. Official Resigns After Posting ‘KKK Is More American Than the Illegal President’

A lot of people, local officials and otherwise, have been exposed on Facebook as of late simply because they can’t keep their offensive opinions to themselves.

David Barber, the deputy director of the Shelby County Corrections Center in Tennessee is the latest to be caught up in a scandal, resigning after posting offensive messages to his personal Facebook page, including one post reading, “The KKK is more American the the illegal president!,” WBTV reports.

“I was offended,” Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell told the news station. “I think anybody who read it would be offended. It was horrible. It was very offensive.”

In another post, Barber referred to the president as “Obummer,” adding, “Hopefully the Muslims will eliminate him and mooshelle as [q–ers].”

Lutrell said that his department learned about the posts Friday. On Tuesday, Barber tendered his resignation. Lutrell told the news station that the department had begun investigating the posts but did not immediately fire Barber because the department wanted to make sure due diligence was exercised in the investigation.

“He was very contrite, very apologetic. He recognized that he made a mistake,” Luttrell said. “I don’t know [why he did it]. That’s a question only he can answer.”

The mayor acknowledged that while the comments were made on Barber’s personal Facebook page, the page also clearly identified him as a Shelby County employee. Lutrell added that government employees are held to a higher standard because they represent the government on and off the job.

“This was an action by an employee who should have known better. What he did, his behavior was intolerable; it was offensive. We afforded him his rights and due process. He recognized his discretion and [resigned],” Luttrell said.

Lutrell said he was not sure if the county had a specific social media policy, but that now his department will most likely begin looking into creating one.

According to WBTV, since Barber resigned and was not fired, he is eligible to receive his benefits package from the county, for which he worked for about 17 years.

| WBTV Charlotte

Read more at WBTV.

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