After a week of reflection, tears, and celebrations of life—along with the expected gnashing of teeth from some on the right side of the political aisle—President Barack Obama capped off an intense nine-day period that began when Dylann Roof allegedly killed nine people at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church when he sang a sublime version of “Amazing Grace” at the funeral of the church’s reverend.
But not all of our problems have been solved. Case in point: A North Charleston, South Carolina, police officer was fired this week after he posted on Facebook a photo of himself. As the Post and Courier writes:
“On Tuesday … the City learned that you posted on Facebook a photograph in which you were wearing only a pair of boxer shorts emblazoned with the image of the Confederate flag,” police chief Eddie Driggers wrote in a letter to sergeant Shannon Dildine. “Your posting in this manner led to you being publicly identified as a North Charleston Police officer and associated both you and the Department with an image that symbolizes hate and oppression to a significant portion of the citizens we are sworn to serve.”
Dildine had been a member of the North Charleston police force since 1996, but that nearly 20-year career was blown up cannon-ball style by his decision to post his choice of underwear, which you can see below.
Dildine has 10 days to appeal the decision of his former boss, but as Driggers told him in the letter any criminal cases involving Dildine and a minority could be compromised now because a lawyer could use that photo at a trial to call into question his motivation for making an arrest.
It was a ballsy move by Dildine to post that kind of picture on social media in this climate. As a result, his boss was left testy and with no other choice but to sack Dildine.
Photo via stuseeger/Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
