Georgia Deputy Fired For Racist Facebook Posts Targeting Black Motorists

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Georgia Deputy Fired For Racist Facebook Posts Targeting Black Motorists

October 7th, 2017

Awake Goy

A white Georgia sheriff’s deputy has been terminated and another white officer abruptly resigned following an internal affairs investigation that uncovered racist and sexist messages they sent each other on Facebook, including one that described what appeared to be an effort to target black motorists.

The two officers — both former McIntosh County sheriff’s deputies — served on the department’s special traffic unit that patrols I-95 in South Georgia. The two officers sent offensive jokes back and forth through the Facebook’s messaging service and used texting shorthand “lol” to indicate laughter.

One joke referred to “colored people” and another used the word “n—— ,” according to records reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Another showed an image of Martin Luther King Jr. and denigrated his most famous speech.

“I have a dream. That one day my people will not act like animals,” posted Brant Gaither, the McIntosh deputy who was terminated July 25.

“Lol. That’ll never happen,” responded Jeremy Owens, a police officer in Darien, the county seat, who resigned the day after Gaither was fired. Owens previously worked in the sheriff’s office.

And in an apparent reference to their policing of the highways, Owens said: “It’s supposed to rain tomorrow. Might not get too many niggs.”

“I hope we get a few but (expletive) if we don’t,” Gaither replied.

The posts have drawn the attention of the Southern Center for Human Rights, which dispatched a lawyer to the county last week.

The center’s staff has been interviewing people in the county and is seeking information from witnesses who may have had interactions with deputies or information about the department’s policing practices. Sarah Geraghty, the center’s managing attorney for impact litigation, said the non-profit law firm is preparing a formal request for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate.

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