Virginia Police Officer Fired After Making A Donation

[OgNasty]

I guess this is what it's come down to...  You are at risk of losing your job if you donate your funds to a place 'they' don't like.  This seems like the sort of thing you'd read about happening in China and think, thank god I live in the land of the free...  I never thought I had to be careful where I donate money, because it might cost me my job.  This information probably shouldn't even be available to his employer.

Virginia police officer fired after donating to Kyle Rittenhouse defense fund

Lt. William Kelly, who worked in internal affairs for the Norfolk Police Department, was fired after donating $25 to Rittenhouse's defense fund.

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[franky1]

so what your saying public servants should not be held under scrutiny
.. and then you must be hinting its ok for cops to look into citizens bank accounts. but no one should look into cops bank accounts?

hmm

[hulla]

I dont know much about the rules and regulations which the police have to abide by but making a donation to Kyle Rittenhouse after some of the fund that saw raised for him last year was said to be in part by selling merchandise and with a different kind of shooting of kids happening this day the police officer gets what he deserves.

[suchmoon]

Imagine the audacity... community expects to have trust in their police force.

Amazingly, there seems to be quite an overlap between the "law and order" and "let's support a vigilante killer" crowds. SMH.

[BADecker]

Poor honest cop. He really needs to look Stewart Rhodes up (if he hasn't already), and then join the militia in the State wherein he lives.

[Quickseller]

The Police officer is a member of the union, and the union will fight for the officer to get his job back. I have not reviewed the union contract, but I strongly suspect the officer will prevail.

The firing was clearly political. Also, news that the police officer donated to Rittenhouse's legal defense fund, and the comments that he made while donating clearly violate Twitter's "hacked materials" policy, yet Twitter has allowed stories to remain.

The hacking of the website that is hosting Rittenhouse's legal defense fund was obviously done with the intent of harming people who are trying to help Rittenhouse have the resources to ensure he has a fair trial.

[DireWolfM14]

vigilante killer

I'm going to take issue with this statement.  I'm not defending Rittenhouse only because I don't know what he did (or didn't do) to instigate what we saw on video.  There could have been something not on film that would make him culpable for what happened, and I don't if that is or is not the case, so will not pass judgement, and I ask that others also refrain from doing so.

I will say, however that what I saw on video looks like self-defense.  Every one that was shot by Rittenhouse that night was shown on video chasing him at some point, one person armed with a pistol, another who took a swing at his head with a skateboard.

As for this cop (and some paramedic in Utah) donating to Rittenhouse's defense fund?  I've seen lots discussion about this topic on the firearms forums, and many comments encourage donating to the defense of the kid simply to show support for the 2nd amendment.  I would venture to guess that these folks are donating to support his legal efforts from a Pro2A and pro self defense stance.  Not so much because they believe Rittenhouse did nothing wrong.  I don't think they should be losing their jobs, or being harassed by the media for taking a political stand.  That's not about trust, that's about "mob justice."  Obey, or else!

Like many other cases, I find this one disturbing because people are so ready to jump to one conclusion or the other without waiting to learn all the facts.  The most damaging part is that the conclusions people jump to are often aligned with hotly contested political point's of view.  Usually this makes any productive discourse on the subject even more difficult.

I'll admit, I'm not completely innocent.  When I look at Rittenhouse I see a snot-nosed punk with a mall-ninja complex who saw an opportunity to brandish his lethal "toy" and got way more than he bargained for, while others died.  Let's just say if he was my kid he would have known better.  But I'll try to keep perspective of my judgements; they are solely a result of my convictions, my presumptions, and my biases.

[Poker Player]

So basically he was fired because of his political ideology. As far as I know Rittenhouse has not been found guilty of anything yet. I am not going to assess whether what he did was right or wrong, I leave that to justice, but I understand that if the donation had been to someone from BLM he would not have been fired.

[Cnut237]

So basically he was fired because of his political ideology.

Not his ideology, but his action. If a police officer thinks that someone who is on trial for homicide is innocent, that's one thing... if he actively funds them, that's obviously different. Especially given the Jacob Blake context, and the wider George Floyd / BLM context. Don't you think it makes it look like the police department is full of white supremacists?

I understand that if the donation had been to someone from BLM he would not have been fired.

I imagine it would depend on the situation. Perhaps if he'd donated to BLM the group rather than an individual, he might have been fine, or he might have got in a bit of trouble.
But if he'd donated specifically to a BLM individual who was on trial for gunning down innocent people in the street... then I think he would still have got fired.

[Call me Fada]

 This is absolutely ridiculous I mean it’s way too bad I don’t what the police 👮‍♀️ departments are turning into this days we are shouting and agitating for police brutality and all of a sudden you get to hear another one police attacking a fellow police, how on earth would a cop gun down his colleague simply because he donated this is incredible for crying out loud. Justice must take its place immediately, let’s join hands to curb our bad and wicked minded cops.

[Quickseller]

So basically he was fired because of his political ideology.

Not his ideology, but his action. If a police officer thinks that someone who is on trial for homicide is innocent, that's one thing... if he actively funds them, that's obviously different. Especially given the Jacob Blake context, and the wider George Floyd / BLM context. Don't you think it makes it look like the police department is full of white supremacists?

I don't think there is any evidence that Rittenhouse is a white supremacist. I am also not aware of any evidence that suggests that Rittenhouse was doing anything other than trying to protect a local community. 

I understand that if the donation had been to someone from BLM he would not have been fired.

I imagine it would depend on the situation. Perhaps if he'd donated to BLM the group rather than an individual, he might have been fine, or he might have got in a bit of trouble.
But if he'd donated specifically to a BLM individual who was on trial for gunning down innocent people in the street... then I think he would still have got fired.

The US Vice President openly tried to get people to donate to a bail fund for people who were arrested for rioting and related charges. There were dozens of people killed in these riots, and hundreds (if not thousands) of businesses burned down by these rioters. 

I also don't think any of the people Rittenhouse shot were in any way innocent. They were all trying to harm Rittenhouse.

[Smartvirus]

Cases that has to do with taking lifes are really difficult to fully justify, as life once lost can't be restored but then, striving to provide funds to an acised to ensure a fair trier doesn't seem like a bad idea to me. I get the point of the fact that, the individual in question is a cop, an officer who is looked up to in protecting the rights of community members as well as maintaining the law and other within the community but that individual is also a part of that community and as such, has some degree of responsibility to that community amidst the once owed to his job. He picking a side shouldn't be no difference from those of the community. It feels said that, his job is to restrict his freewill and good gesture towards helping in funding a legal truer this way. Left for me, not mind g the crime being committed, I see nothing wrong in helping to create a platform for a fair trier. Let the law always triumph.

[suchmoon]

vigilante killer

I'm going to take issue with this statement.  I'm not defending Rittenhouse only because I don't know what he did (or didn't do) to instigate what we saw on video.  There could have been something not on film that would make him culpable for what happened, and I don't if that is or is not the case, so will not pass judgement, and I ask that others also refrain from doing so.

Fair enough. However he shouldn't have been there, and his misguided militia ambitions notwithstanding, law enforcement should not support or encourage this kind of behavior.

I don't see this as a political issue. The officer was fired not for donating to e.g. Trump's campaign. He doesn't even seem to have been fired for the donation itself, rather the comments that went with it. I don't see anything to suggest that the firing was not as described, i.e. for breaking department's policies. If that's not the case he should be able to appeal.

"Chief Larry Boone and I have concluded Lt. Kelly’s actions are in violation of City and departmental policies," Chip Filer, the city manager of Norfolk, said in a statement. "His egregious comments erode the trust between the Norfolk Police Department and those they are sworn to serve. The City of Norfolk has a standard of behavior for all employees, and we will hold staff accountable."