The deputy director of the Shelby County Corrections Center in Tennessee, David Barber has resigned after coming under fire due to several offensive and racist comments he posted to his personal Facebook page. According to reports, Barber posted “The KKK is more American [than] the illegal president” as a caption to a news story he shared on his page.
In another post, Barber said he hopes “Obummer and Moonshell” get killed in a Arabic country. Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell said he was offended by the hateful language. Luttrell said the department learned of the comments Friday (Nov. 11) and on Tuesday (Nov. 15) Barber resigned.
However, since Barber resigned (instead of being fired) he will still receive his benefits package from the county for which he worked 17 years for. The mayor did say there was a chance Barber could’ve been fired had he not resigned.
“He was very contrite, very apologetic. He recognized that he made a mistake,” Luttrell added. “I don’t know [why he did it]. That’s a question only he can answer.”
Although Barber made the racist comments on his personal Facebook, it was clear Barber was employed by the county. Mayor Luttrell said government employees are held to a higher standard.
“This was an action by an employee who should have known better. What he did, his behavior was intolerable; it was offensive. We afforded him his rights and due process. He recognized his discretion and [resigned],” Luttrell said.