Public defender allegedly fired after wearing Black Lives Matter tie

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

An assistant public defender was fired this week, and he took to social media to claim that the firing was due to his choice to wear a Black Lives Matter tie to the Brevard County public defender’s office.

Alton Edmond was escorted from the office by two armed guards after his posts on Facebook were printed out and delivered to Public Defender Blaise Trettis’ office.

“It is accurate to say he was fired. But it was an accumulation of things … the tie had no significance in his firing,” Trettis told Florida Today when asked about Edmond’s termination. “People can talk about politics, of course. But there’s a big difference about talking politics and wearing politics on your tie.”

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Trettis went on to admit that he attended a rally in support of Donald Trump in September, but said the difference was that he didn’t do so during work hours.

“I did go, but if that’s a criticism, it’s absurd. The big difference is that what I did was not during work hours or at a work place,” Trettis said. “Whatever he wants to do in his own time, that’s his business. It’s not right for an attorney to be wearing that in the courthouse.”

But Edmond claimed that he had worn the tie several times and that he believed it was his First Amendment right to choose to do so. “This was my way of representing a struggle. It’s very personal to me,” he said.

Trettis said that the final straw, however, was when he saw that Edmond had gone online to complain about his boss on Facebook.

“He was posting on Facebook during working hours and the posts were about me. When you’re at work, criticizing your boss, that’s not a good thing,” Trettis said.

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