Jacob Kersey is 19 years old and was a Port Wentworth Georgia police officer. Kersey alleges that he was pressured to quit his job after refusing to remove a Facebook post defending biblical marriage. Freedom of speech is, evidently, an arbitrary matter depending on the political content of that speech.
During an interview on the Todd Starnes Show, Kersey asserted “that he made a Facebook post that said, ‘God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church. That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage.'” A coworker considered the Facebook post to be “offensive.” As reported, Kersey received a call from his supervisor and was informed that a coworker was offended by the post and that “it must be removed.” Kersey refused. As reported, “the department threatened him.”
Kersey told Starnes that the police supervisor stated: “You can either resign now or we’re going to create a new department policy that if you say anything like this in the future, if it’s not a Bible verse, but if it’s your interpretation or opinion of Scripture, or if you teach scripture and it offends someone, then you’ll be fired for it.”
Kersey alleged that he “then resigned from his post because he did not feel safe engaging in police work if his department did not support him.” Starnes stated, perhaps naively, “This is just unbelievable that this went down.” Starnes further expressed a lament: “And it’s sad because ultimately the Constitution protects your right to practice your religion beyond the walls of your home or your church. And the Constitution affords you the right to post whatever you would like to post. And it bothers me that they’re coming after you simply because of your deeply held religious beliefs.”
No comment was made by the supervisor of any other person in the Port Wentworth police department. Based on the details of the article, Kersey’s statement was a private post expressing his personal opinion. Kersey’s statement, whether or not controversial or popular or unpopular, was not a statement on behalf of the Port Wentworth police department.