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Police officer resigns after superiors suspend him for traditional marriage beliefs

Luke Gentile January 25, 03:43 PMJanuary 25, 03:43 PM Video Embed

A police officer in Georgia resigned last week after he said superiors attempted to suppress him from sharing his religious beliefs on social media.

Jacob Kersey, 19, gave up his position with the Port Wentworth Police Department after weeks of being attacked over a tweet where he shared his religious beliefs on marriage, according to a report.

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“God designed marriage. Marriage refers to Christ and the church,” Kersey wrote in a message posted to his Facebook page on Jan. 2. “That’s why there is no such thing as homosexual marriage.”

A day after posting the message, Kersey was called by his superior, who told him to remove the post because someone had complained, he said.

Kersey declined, and the superior then told him that if he did not remove the post, he could be fired.

Another superior, Lt. Justin Hardy, soon contacted the then-officer and informed him that the department wanted to avoid being held liable in a “use of force” incident with someone identifying as an LGBT individual, the report noted.

Again, Kersey refused, and he quickly received a call from Maj. Lee Sherrod.

Sherrod had Kersey meet with him on Jan. 4 and told him to bring all his items that belonged to the city, according to Kersey.

The 19-year-old, who had been with the department since last May, believed he was going to be let go, but when he arrived, he was told by superiors that he was “being placed on administrative leave while the city investigated to see if I could keep my job.”

“I was told that I was wise beyond my years, an old soul, and that they brag on me all the time, but that I couldn’t post things like that.”

Appearing to attempt to drive the point home, the police chief, Matt Libby, told Kersey that what he said was akin to “saying the N-word and ‘F*** all those homosexuals,'” according to Kersey.

Kersey was told he had free speech, but it “was limited due to my position as … a police officer,” he said.

Kersey spent a week on paid administrative leave, and when he returned, he was told that he would not be fired, but could no longer share “offensive” opinions on his social media.

This meant he could not share his “interpretation or opinion on Scripture if it was deemed offensive,” according to Kersey.

They cited the “separation of church and state” in their decision, per Kersey.

In a letter dated Jan. 13, Kersey was reportedly “reminded that if any post on any of your social media platforms, or any other statement or action, renders you unable to perform, and to be seen as [unable] to perform, your job in a fair and equitable manner, you could be terminated.”

Days later, the 19-year-old decided to call it quits.

“I decided to resign … because I just didn’t think it wise to go back and play their game,” he said. “The way things went down, I didn’t feel as if my command really had my back.”

Kersey has hosted a conservative and Christian podcast for years, he said, and his actions on the podcast have never had “people complaining about things that I said when I was off duty on my own time on the podcast.”

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“I’m sure people disagreed. I’m sure people didn’t agree with everything that I said as a conservative Christian, and that’s fine,” he said on the podcast. “But, I came to work, I did my job, I was professional, and I had a great relationship with all my co-workers, who come from all different backgrounds and belief systems.”

Kersey does not know what he will do next with his career, but he does not “want to be the man that sits passively by as the whole world, and my fellow countrymen, are deceived by the lies … happening in [the] culture.”

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