Ohio sheriff's deputy fired over racist tweets comparing Baltimore protesters to 'Planet Of The Apes'
theGrio REPORT - Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly confirmed that deputy Zachary Davis was fired on Wednesday after racist tweets about the Baltimore protesters came to light.
Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly confirmed that deputy Zachary Davis was fired on Wednesday after racist tweets about the Baltimore protesters came to light.
Kelly said that the tweets were deleted, but not before Kelly had printed them out so he could confront Davis with them.
One tweet read, “It’s time to start using deadly force in Baltimore. When they start slaying these innocent young people it’ll send a message.”
Another tweet read, “Baltimore the last few days = real life planet of the apes.”
“I had nothing to say to him except that I’m disappointed and that it will not be tolerated,” Kelly told HuffPost. “I found it offensive. Swiftly and surely, he was terminated.”
Kelly also said that he received an email from a concerned member of the community who said that the “insensitivity, hostility, and maliciousness” of the tweets was concerning coming from a deputy who “holds the power of the state.”
“Davis’s tweets are offensive, inappropriate, and inhumane for the way they treat the black citizens of Baltimore, striping them of their humanity and rendering them ‘apes’ who should be ‘slayed’ to be taught a lesson,” the letter reads.
Kelly said that he met with the local NAACP president, who supported Kelly in his decision. “I’ve done everything I can do to try and correct this problem,” Kelly said. “It hurts us and this community and there’s no place for it.”
