A sheriff's deputy in Virginia has been fired after the department was alerted to "disturbing comments" on Parler, the far-right social media platform.
"Early yesterday our agency was notified about disturbing comments being made on several social media outlets by a deputy sheriff," a rep for the Prince William County Sheriff's Office said over the weekend. "Sheriff Hill was notified and ordered an Internal Affairs investigation. The investigation has concluded and the deputy has been terminated from employment with our office. We thank the public for bringing this to our attention."
Among the reported comments, per the Washington Post, were several calling for violence against Chief Justice of the United States John G. Roberts Jr. over the dismissal of a case aimed at overturning the 2020 election results. The Parler account also included comments against vaccination, including "I will kill anyone that touches my children without my consent," which was in response to a bill that would allow some children to be vaccinated without the consent of a parent.
Aaron Hoffman, the deputy in question, claimed in an interview with the Post that—while he had started a Parler account—the comments brought to the department’s attention had been made by someone else. "I'm trying to figure out who did," Hoffman, who is now planning to speak with lawyers about being fired from the department, said.
Sheriff Hill was first made aware of the comments on Dec. 25, at which point an investigation was launched. The comments, he said, are "very despicable" and are "of course" against department policy.
