Georgia Police Officer Forced to Resign for Supporting Traditional Marriage

A police officer in Port Wentworth who was harassed and even suspended due to Biblical views he shared on Facebook, ended up resigning.

Evidently, fire and police departments have little respect for integrity and character rooted in the Bible. In 2015, the fire chief in Atlanta was fired because of his self-published book advocating better roles for husbands and fathers.

Now Jacob Kersey of Port Wentworth, Georgia, is leaving police over a Facebook post. The post looked into the book of Ephesians regarding the union of Christ and the church as a marriage. Kersey said “God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church.That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage.”

In 2015, Cochran won a $1.2 million settlement with Atlanta over his lawsuit regarding free speech following his firing. However, Kersey’s Facebook comments earned him a one-week suspension.

After his post on Jan. 2, a supervisor contacted him and demanded the comments be taken down, which Kersey refused according to The Daily Signal. In response, police Lt. Justin Hardy expressed concern over the city being held liable if Kersey used force on someone who identified as LGBT.

On January 4, Kersey was summoned to return all of his belongings related to the city and assumed that he was going to be dismissed. When he appeared, he was greeted by Hardy, Major Lee Sherrod. During the meeting, he discovered that he was put on administrative leave while the city conducted a review to assess if he was eligible to remain in his position.

Kersey remembered the police chief stating that the Facebook post was as offensive to homosexuals as using racial slurs such as “F*** all those homosexuals.”

On January 13, Sherrod wrote Kersey a letter saying “We did not find sufficient evidence to establish a violation of any policies.” However the letter took a different turn.

“Please be aware that this notice, however, is not to be construed as an exhaustive finding that you have not at any time engaged in conduct violative of applicable policy or rendered you unfit for duty,” wrote Sherrod.

After a week of paid administrative leave, the officer had a meeting with police leadership where he was informed that he could still keep his job and post Scripture on social media as long as he did not express offensive opinions. The restriction on his posts was reportedly due to the principle of separation of church and state. Additionally, the police department reportedly informed him that they were creating guidelines for what officers could post on social media.

The letter appeared to be an attempt to protect the city from potential legal action if the officer had any negative interactions with members of the LGBT community.

Due to the pressure and the difficult situation he was facing, the officer bravely resigned. “I just didn’t think it wise to go back and play their game.” Kersey said. “I wanted to spend some time of my life learning what that meant to serve and to follow in the footsteps of people who invested in my life at a young age, and I was extremely excited about doing that.”