Who didn’t see this one coming. Showing your ass on YouTube in a high profile job has consequences.
YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_QQW0RswpQ4
“I expressed my First Amendment rights and my Second Amendment rights. No regrets.”
Police Chief Mark Kessler must have some following, because the CNN story says the meeting in which he was fired drew “thousands of supporters.” No small trick in a town of 750. What did he say that bothered them so much? Have a look. Language warning!
That was a bit much for the Gilberton Borough Council:
Now when you make a First Amendment case on Kessler’s behalf, you do have to remember that the Borough Council was his employer, and the First Amendment protects you against prosecution but not necessarily against getting fired from your job if what you say annoys your boss. If you’re supposed to be working on that report and instead you’re roaming the halls railing against ObamaCare, your boss is within his rights to tell you to shut up and get to work.
That said, what really bothered the Council here? Was it the opinion expressed, or was it the over-the-top use of profanity? Or maybe this: When you dare John Kerry to come to your town, there is always the unlikely possibility that Kerry would take him up on the dare, and that would mean . . . gasp . . . John Kerry came to your town.
Nobody needs to see that.
The Council claims that Kessler misused borough property - I think they mean equipment, not real property - and failed to turn over weapons to the borough as they had demanded. That one makes no sense, at least to me. If the borough owns weapons, wouldn’t the police chief be the person in charge of them?
The story doesn’t say anything about the crime rate in the borough, and I’m not sure how much crime you’re likely to have in a town of 750, but one thing that appears abundantly clear is that local politicians didn’t like the chief’s political opinions, and they really don’t like they way he expresses them. And as far as they were concerned, that was sufficient reason to get rid of him.
He has 10 days to appeal the decision, and clearly he’s hired legal counsel, so we’ll keep an eye on what happens.
A new edition of Dan’s book “Powers and Principalities” is now available in hard copy and e-book editions. Follow all of Dan’s work, including his series of Christian spiritual warfare novels, by liking his page on Facebook.