The former deputy director of Shelby County Corrections Center in Tennessee has resigned after controversial and racially charged Facebook posts reached the public’s eye.
Screenshot via WMC Viewer
In one post, Barber called President Barack Obama “Obummer” and First Lady Michelle Obama, “Mooshelle.” Barber wrote in the same post that he wished the Obamas would be murdered while touring in an Arabic nation.
Many of the posts were brought to the attention of WMC Action News 5 after a concerned citizen sent photos of the posts.
There also was another post that compared the president to the Ku Klux Klan that caught Barber’s superiors’ attention. In that one, Barber wrote that the white supremacist organization was more American than Obama because Obama’s presidency was “illegal.”
Screenshot via WMC Viewer
Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and his office found out about the posts Friday and Barber resigned on Tuesday amid the backlash. Luttrell tells Action News 5 that he did not immediately fire Barber because he wanted to conduct a thorough investigation. Since Barber resigned before being fired, the county will still grant him his benefits package.
“This was an action by an employee who should have known better. What he did, his behavior, was intolerable; it was offensive,: Luttrell said. “We afforded him his rights and due process. He recognized his indiscretion and [resigned].”
The mayor said Shelby County does not have a social media policy for employees, but he is looking into creating one after this recent fiasco.
