Racist Facebook Messages Cost Two Georgia Cops Their Jobs

The "jokes" exchanged by a McIntosh County deputy and another officer included targeting black motorists for arrest and racist epithets.

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Two Georgia law enforcement officers are out of work as a result of Facebook exchanges where, among other things, they joked about targeting black people for arrest on the highway.

Former McIntosh County Sheriff's Deputy Brant Gaither and his former departmental colleague Jeremy Owens shared a number of questionable messages over the social media site, including a photo of Martin Luther King, Jr. with Gaither's added comment, "I have a dream. That one day my people will act like animals." Owens reportedly replied, "Lol. That'll never happen," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The investigation which led to Gaither's termination in July was launched after Owens left the department for another law enforcement job in Darien, Ga. Owens had used his Sheriff's department-issued laptop to access Facebook, but never logged out of his account. The officer who was later issued Owens' former laptop discovered the racist messages and informed superior officers. Owens resigned from his new police job the day after Gaither was fired.

The Journal-Constitution also reports that in an exchange referring to their jobs patrolling the state highways, Owens wrote, "It's supposed to rain tomorrow. Might not get too many niggs." To which Gaither replied, "I hope we get a few but (expletive) if we don't." The two former deputies also reportedly made jokes about domestic violence and "an offensive joke about a black pregnancy test and fried chicken."

According to the memo detailing Gaither's termination, the former deputy admitted he had made a "stupid mistake" but insisted "It was just a joke, we all do it."

Sheriff Stephen D. Jessup flatly rejected Gaither's explanation, saying the jokes amounted to "total racism," and that he would be open to having some cases where Gaither and Owens played a role being dismissed.

The non-profit legal advocacy group Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR) has called for a federal investigation into whether or not the former deputies targeted people based on race, and has reportedly sent staffers to the rural county of about 14,000 people to interview people about their experiences with law enforcement—and specifically if they had any interactions with Gaither and Owens.

Comments

[Florida Hipster]

"an offensive joke about a black pregnancy test and fried chicken."

You can't put that up and not give us the punchline.

[RBS]

Maybe that black blood guy can come tell us.

[Florida Hipster]

I forgot about him. JJ could improvise something for us I guess.

[Quixote]

One should certainly be careful about expressing such views. At any rate, so much for the foolish claim that jokes are "protected speech." See the documentation of America's leading criminal "satire" case at:

http://raphaelgolbtrial.wordpress.com/

[Fluke]

I assumed they didn't write the joke, so a quick search would turn up a meme that they likely shared, and I was right.

[PapayaSF]

Black pregnancy test: Insert a piece of fried chicken into the vagina. Remove after 30 seconds. If eaten, she's pregnant.

[SugarFree]

That's stupid. What if her vagina was just hungry?

[Citizen X]

+1 dentata

[Lee Genes]

That might have been funny in the 7th grade.

[Citizen X]

I never understood why fried chicken has a racial implication. Fried chicken is fucking delicious, man. You show me somebody who doesn't like fried chicken (besides UCS, probably) and i'll show you someone who can't enjoy life, and i don't care what color their skin is.

[Rhywun]

Because it's associated with the South?

[Citizen X]

So is five straight months of 99% humidity, but that's not considered a racial stereotype.

[Tonio]

In the South, everyone eats fried chicken.

[PapayaSF]

Very true.

[Rhywun]

Yes, but it was mostly only black people who brought it North.

[lap83]

"all these years I thought I liked chicken because it was delicious, turns out I'm genetically predisposed to liking chicken"

[bacon-magic]

Dave Chappelle was a comedic genius.

[Suthenboy]

The watermelon and fried chicken themed slurs don't have anything to do with watermelon or fried chicken.

Those foods used to be delicacies. Watermelons, before commercial pesticides and herbicides were difficult to grow. Before industrial farms made chicken incredibly plentiful and cheap all you had were 'yard birds' people ate them very sparingly, preferring to keep them for eggs.

The racist watermelon/fried chicken meme had to do with blacks being lazy yet wanting to eat the good stuff which should have been reserved for the most productive members of society. Blacks want to gobble up the good stuff, they just don't want to work for it.

Of course, the same idiots who told those jokes also used the expression "Work like a nigger" to describe someone who was especially hard working.

Racism is pretty universal among the various human tribes but also completely irrational. It serves to preserve the tribe at the cost of progress and enormous amounts of human potential.

[kinnath]

Us versus Them; since the beginning of time; until the end of time.

[NoDakMat]

I once heard it explained on the History Channel that in the post-Civil War era it was common practice for poor people, mostly freed slaves, to carry a basket of fried chicken with them when they traveled. They couldn't afford transportation, so a trip to the next town over and back home was a day of walking. Fried chicken was cheap, easy to carry, and wasn't prone to spoiling.

Sounds plausible.

[Suthenboy]

It wasn't cheap, not by a long shot. It is cheap now because of industrial scale chicken farms. Back then, not so much.

My young grandfather and his brothers went on a hike once sometime before the first WW. He said they went by old man so-and-so's house and stole a chicken because he wasn't home. After dark they built a fire and cooked the chicken. They were sitting there eating it when old man so-and-so came along and found them. They invited him to sit down and eat chicken with them. The whole time he was there they were paralyzed with fear that he would figure out it was his chicken, but he didn't. His comment after telling me the story was "If he would have known it was his chicken he would have hung us all on the spot"

He thought that was hilarious.

I was puzzled and asked why - it was only a chicken. So he explained that back then chickens were expensive and there just weren't that many. People couldn't afford to kill and eat them anytime they felt like it. They were reserved for special occasions.

[NoDakMat]

Well, it sounds a little less plausible now. It doesn't surprise me that the History Channel would completely fuck up an important fact in their little story.

Thanks for the anecdote, Suthenboy!

[DEATFBIRSECIA]

Insert a piece of fried chicken into the vagina & remove after 30 seconds. If eaten, there's a little nigga in there.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Not leaving those Facebook messages would have made the officers fear for their lives, so it's okay.

[RBS]

used his Sheriff's department-issued laptop to access Facebook, but never logged out of his account.

And some people think only these clowns should have access to firearms.

[Rufus The Monocled]

Obviously beat me to it. That was the line that jumped out at me.

Whoever has him now should rest easy they got a diligent one in their ranks.

[The Grinch]

Who gives a shit if these guys were making supposedly offensive jokes? The singling out of black folks for tickets or arrests is another matter though.

[Florida Hipster]

Agreed. I put racism under free speech. Targeting people for harassment is a horse of a different color.

[The Grinch]

Deeds not words and all that.

[R C Dean]

Eh. They are free to make racist jokes. Such jokes may have (employment) consequences. They do in many private companies, you know.

Freedom of speech is not freedom from the consequences of speech. This doesn't bother me.

[Free Society]

Except that it was made in an ostensibly private setting. They weren't posting the jokes to their facebook wall or in the public square.

[Brett L]

These heroes have a difficult job and they were just blowing off steam! You can't judge all cops on these two!

/lawandordertarians

What else did I forget?

[Florida Hipster]

Black people are basically savages that need the firm boot of the state.

[RBS]

Shouldn't yall be getting ready for the hurricane?

First Matthew related death in SC.

[Brett L]

Jesus. Who knew the German blood ran so strong in SC?

[commodious pip pips, oh well]

Dafuq? "Evacuation checkpoint"? Isn't that a little lot counterproductive? Is there anything cops can't turn to shit?

[Florida Hipster]

Right?!? Why the fuck do you need a check point when you're getting out of dodge?

[SugarFree]

Some the people moving inland could be ISIS.

[commodious pip pips, oh well]

Or worse, Floridians.

[commodious pip pips, oh well]

Once the storm rolls on they'll set up the barricades on the other side of the traffic line to prevent donors and volunteers from coming in.

[Tonio]

The article doesn't say, but my best guess is that this is a checkpoint only for inbound traffic, ie traffic trying to get into the evacuated area. It's not the state's business to save people from their own stupidity.

[Suthenboy]

They aren't checking people going out, they are checking people going in. Some people will hunker down in an area that is evacuating so that after the storm passes, before everyone returns, they can loot at will.

The checkpoint is to make sure that everyone entering actually lives in that area.

[Playa Manhattan.]

It's like a regular evacuation, but slower and with killings.

[Florida Hipster]

I'm set. I've got a tub full of water, 40 lbs ice, two bags charcoal, emergency food, a bottle of rye, 2 Ar-15's and 1000 rounds.

[SugarFree]

Um, that's just a good cookout, dude.

[Hamster of Doom]

I choose to believe that emergency food is steaks, seafood and an assortment of delicious sides suitable to eat cold. And that he left out the pyramid of beer because some things can be assumed.

[Florida Hipster]

I have wahoo, tuna and kingfish from my last fishing trip.

[commodious pip pips, oh well]

Wahoo is a street term for meth/ketamine mix, isn't it

[Citizen X]

Wouldn't meth and special K cancel each other out? You'd just be normal.

[commodious pip pips, oh well]

I imagine it's like a morning beer after an evening bender.

[Playa Manhattan.]

Well, I feel normal.

[SugarFree]

K is not a downer, but a disassociative. So you'd be jacked up on meth and everything you did would feel like it was happening to someone else.

[Tonio]

Worse - UVA graduates.

[R C Dean]

"A" bottle of rye?

Not planning for much of a crisis, are you?

[commodious pip pips, oh well]

Running out of booze is a crisis in and of itself.

[Tonio]

Agreed. You should always have multiple bottles in case of breakage.

[Brett L]

Did you make your: "You loot, I shoot" sign and take a picture with it yet?

[Brett L]

Right. I think that one usually goes: If they weren't doing anything wrong, it wouldn't matter if the police stopped them. That's just a minor inconvenience.

[ULOST]

Brett, you forgot that the rat will need to be dealt with as the rat can obviously not be trusted to have the back of another brother in blue.
Rat radios to dispatch, "Officer taking fire from man with gun, need back up now."
Other deputies respond accordingly, back-up!? You don't need no stinkin' back-up.

[Citizen X]

the former deputy admitted he had made a "stupid mistake" but insisted "It was just a joke, we all do it."

At least he's honest.

[Playa Manhattan.]

So, murder an unarmed person and get paid vacation, but post a message to Facebook and get fired???

What a truly fucked up world we live in.

[Brett L]

Hey, at least someone got fired.

[Rhywun]

Racism is literally worse than Hitler.

[Invisible Finger]

The fewer police, the less fucked up it will be.

[Ayn Random Variation]

That's what I came here to say but I scrolled first figuring someone must have pointed out the lunacy of our times

[ULOST]

Fuckbook doing what Fuckbook does best. Goes to show the cop felt no compunction to be discreet or cover his tracks by at least signing out on his state issued computer. Should have been a bit more concerned about his own profile than profiling.

Scary that his account remained open. Did he not sign out anywhere else since returning the computer and would it have mattered?

[kinnath]

It's a sad day when one can no longer call a spade a spade.

[Rhywun]

Sure you can.

[sarcasmic]

Their first mistake was using FaceDerp.

[Azathoth!!]

So comfortable we are with the Thought Police these days.

Are all your thoughts within acceptable, reasonable limitations?

Better hope so, because they are coming for you.

[Invisible Finger]

"It was just a joke, we all do it."

That reasoning never stopped police from arresting anyone. So fuck 'em.

[Florida Hipster]

I'm headed home to prepare for the storm. Good luck to everyone in the storms path. Stay safe.

[Monroe Feather, Jr.]

Good luck to everyone in the storms path. Stay safe.

Oh, so fuck everyone else, is that it??

[bacon-magic]

Be safe.

[Glide]

Keep it safe everyone! Gaia is a bitch.

[The Last American Hero]

Not to defend these assholes, but isn't this like Gen. Patton getting a bunch of shit over slapping a soldier?

[The Fusionist]

No, it's as if Gen. Patton talked about taking a special pleasure in slapping black soldiers - leading to suspicions of racial targeting.

[The Fusionist]

They seemed to indicate that they enjoyed pulling black people over, so that can lead to an inference that they targeted motorists because of race, so in that sense the posts are like confessing to a crime online.

[The Fusionist]

Call me idealistic, but I think cops should feel the same about pulling over Whitey McWhiteface as they do about pulling over a similarly situated Mr. McBlackperson.

[R C Dean]

You want them to pull everyone over randomly and without justification, and feel free to abuse them?

[The Fusionist]

Well, I was thinking more in terms of "look, a speeder, sigh, guess I'll have to pull them over, after all it's my job..."

[The Fusionist]

As opposed to "yay, there's someone I can pull over, I *do* hope he sasses me!"

[Get To Da Chippah]

If they'd just choked a few people to death, they'd still have a job.

[The Fusionist]

Just because the race-baiters see racism everywhere doesn't mean it's *nowhere.*

[bacon-magic]

The race-baiters' constant whining is actually making racism more prevalent.

[R C Dean]

As a group, they're probably among the most racist people in this country.

[R C Dean]

As a group, they're probably among the most racist people in this country.

[The Fusionist]

Think of the Orcs after the One Ring was destroyed...white racists are still around, but weaker, more scattered and disorganized.

[John Thacker]

The race-baiters' constant whining is actually making racism more prevalent.

Yes. And the visible racists (including those Trump has encouraged) are making the race-baiters and SJWs more prevalent and powerful.

[William Foster]

OF COURSE he has a goatee. Of course.

[Tonio]

Probably not allowed a full beard per departmental regs.

[The Fusionist]

He's allowed a beard *now*!

[John Thacker]

Georgia is another good no collective bargaining rights for cops state. (Only firefighters have collective bargaining.) I assume that all the liberals are praising that, since it allowed these bozos to be fired.

[The Fusionist]

What Georgia cops need is a good union contract so that in a few months, when things have quieted down, an arbitrator can decide that firing was too severe an offense and that the officer should be reinstated after taking a tax-paid training course offered down in Las Vegas or somewhere.

hth smooches

[The Fusionist]

too severe a *sanction*

[simplybe]

Let's see cops can get away with rape bullying murder and a certain amount of corruption but free speech can get you fired. Does anyone else think we are living in a really screwed up country.

[John Thacker]

I didn't, but your characterization of what they said as "free speech" and your whataboutism definitely makes think that more people are screwed up than before I read it. You must also be one of those people who defends Lois Lerner at the IRS and Hillary Clinton for their emails because they're just "free speech."