Hours before officers were gunned down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, officials in Cobb County pulled the plug on an electronic sign with slurs against police.
The sign, hanging above Johnson Ferry Road, already spread to social media by the time it was turned off, Channel 2 Action News reported. The sign was hacked and flashing before Sunday morning’s Baton Rouge shooting in which police say 29-year-old Gavin Long shot and killed three officers.
Cobb police had received support in prior days in wake of recent events, but the sign’s message put officers on high alert, local Fraternal Order of Police President Steve Gaynor told Channel 2.
“Just telling them to hang in there and they support them,” Gaynor said, “…These folks are only doing the job they were hired and paid to do.”
Gaynor said the sign’s sentiments aren’t what the East Cobb community represent.
“It doesn’t reflect the nature of this area, this neighborhood in East Cobb,” he said, “People are very pro-police and here. My daughter-in-law is an officer and I have nothing but respect for these people.”
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