A county commissioner calling a civil rights icon a "racist pig" and referring to roughly half of his constituents as "a bunch of idiots."

A magistrate court judge comparing those protesting Confederate monuments to ISIS.

Both have happened in Gwinnett County this year — and both incidents happened on Facebook.

The fallout from each situations was different. The commissioner, Tommy Hunter, has been publicly reprimanded and protests have flooded board meetings for more than seven months, but he's vowed to remain in office. The judge, Jim Hinkle, was suspended and quickly resigned.

But both incidents raise the question: What, if anything, governments should do to try and prevent such public displays?

In other Gwinnett news:

Police are actively searching for the man they said tried to force his way inside the woman's home.

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Amber Hicks’ father, Mark Boggs (center), hugs Hicks’ cousin Kirstyn Bauer upon hearing the life sentence for Matthew Lanz on Friday, Nov. 21, 2025. Lanz was convicted a day earlier in the 2021 killings of Hicks and her husband, Justin, in their Acworth home. (Jason Getz/AJC)

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

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Tracy Woodard from InTown Cares (left) and Lauren Hopper from Mercy Care organization work with residents at the Copperton Street encampment in August 2024. 
(Miguel Martinez / AJC)

Credit: Miguel Martinez