A former police officer who was suspended and investigated for a social media post expressing opposition to gay marriage resigned last month, claiming he feared being fired for expressing his beliefs.
Jacob Kersey, a former officer with the Port Wentworth Police Department, in Port Wentworth, Georgia, a city of 11,000 residents located just outside Savannah, was placed on paid administrative leave on Jan. 4 after refusing to take down the offending Facebook post.
Two days earlier, the 19-year-old Kersey had posted his opinion about marriage: “God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church. That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage.”
On Jan. 3, Kersey claims to have received a phone call from his supervisor, who told him that someone had complained about the post, and ordered him to remove it. Kersey refused, and the supervisor warned him that not deleting the post could result in his termination.
Kersey was then contacted by another superior, Lt. Justin Hardy, who told him the police department didn’t want to be held liable in a “use of force” situation involving someone in the LGBTQ community.
Kersey still refused to take down the post, according to the Daily Signal, a right-wing publication published by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.
Finally, Kersey received a phone call from a third superior, Maj. Lee Sherrod, ordering him to come to the office the following morning and turn in everything in his possession belonging to the city.
Kersey told the Daily Signal he thought he was going to be fired, but upon arriving at the police station, he was informed that he’d be placed on administrative leave while an investigation into the Facebook post was conducted.
In the meeting, held with Hardy, Sherrod, Capt. Nathan Jentzen, and Police Chief Matt Libby, Kersey claims that he was told he was “wise beyond my years, an old soul,…
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