The Hall County Sheriff’s Office suspended and reassigned one of its employees due to “inappropriate remarks” on social media, the department said.
“The comments were made off-duty and in no way reflect the opinion of the Hall County Sheriff’s Office in any way, shape or form,” the department said in a June 8 Facebook post.
About two weeks after the investigation was announced, a sheriff’s office spokesman told AJC.com that “the employee was suspended for five days and transferred to the jail division.”
Several members of the community claimed that the remarks were made by a deputy, with screenshots of Facebook posts and comments circulating in private messages.
The messages, according to the community members, were related to the ongoing protests around the country. If true, it would be the latest in a rash of local incidents involving government employees who've either been placed on leave or fired as a result of anti-protester social media posts.
In Jackson County, an emergency medical services employee was fired due to Facebook comments, including one that said “shoot them all” in reference to protesters in Gainesville, AJC.com previously reported.
RELATED: North Georgia EMS employee fired after anti-protester Facebook comments
In a similar case, a Tallapoosa police officer was suspended due to anti-protester Facebook posts. The suspension was announced in a pair of Facebook posts by the department, which have both been deleted.
The officer was later fired, AJC.com confirmed.
MORE: Tallapoosa police sergeant fired after making anti-protester Facebook posts
In a nearly 1,000-word Facebook post, Johns Creek police Chief Chris Byers said he did not support the Black Lives Matter movement while also blaming church leaders of contributing to discord between law enforcement and the public. The post has since been deleted.
ALSO: Police chief blames pastors for contributing to national unrest
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