FRANKLIN COUNTY, Ohio — A spokesperson for the Franklin County Sheriff's Office was told to resign Thursday because of a Facebook post about Capitol police.
On Wednesday, the day of the riot at the U.S. Capitol, Marc Gofstein wrote in a Facebook post, "Law enforcement freely letting mobs storm the Capitol Building, not stopping domestic terrorists from desecrating the House and Senate chambers, and even taking selfies with the Trumpies."
"If this was a BLM protest, we'd be seeing tanks and mass casualties. White privilege at its worst," he continued.
In a letter to staff, Franklin County Sheriff Dallas Baldwin called the post an "inflammatory message."
"While all of us in law enforcement have a general constitutional right to hold and express opinions, we also have a professional obligation to refrain from thoughtlessly joining knee-jerk, factually inaccurate criticism of law enforcement personnel," Baldwin wrote.
Gofstein wrote in a statement he was appreciative of the opportunity to work for Sheriff Baldwin, but will not apologize for his comments.
"However, I completely stand by what I posted and what the world saw. The officers at the Capitol failed to do their jobs and, instead, let the mob rule. Many even stood next to the rioters and took selfies," Gofstein said.
"The raw emotion of what happened inspired me to comment, and I will never apologize for that. Nobody should ever have to apologize for speaking up and speaking out. Unfortunately, in doing so, I put the Sheriff in a position where he then asked for my resignation," wrote Gofstein.
Baldwin said in an emailed statement to 10TV that he respects the First Amendment but his office's social media policy "prohibits off-duty social media comments that would negatively affect the office, damage morale, our hurt our ability to protect the Franklin County families who count on us."
