The online activity of a detention corporal with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office drew attention of high-profile, conservative social media pages and led to his firing on Monday morning.

A release from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office said it terminated the employment of Brian Edwards after he was put on administrative leave on Saturday, when the sheriff’s office “learned of concerning social media posts allegedly made by Edwards” and opened an investigation. The date aligns with when a right-wing account that frequently shares public profiles of people who are critical of President Donald Trump, his administration and conservative policies highlighted Edwards’ profile and a string of his posts. Edwards has since made his social media profiles private, meaning Chapelboro could not independently verify the posts’ content.

According to Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood, his office’s investigation confirmed the posts violated both the Standards of Conduct and the Speech, Expression, and Social Networking sections of its policy manual.

“We must maintain the public trust as we go about our mission to protect, serve, and treat everyone with dignity and respect,” said Blackwood.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Edwards worked with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for more than three years after previously working for the North Carolina Department of Public Safety in several roles. He was promoted from detention officer to detention corporal in May, with the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page saying he “leads by example with his attention to detail and work ethic.”

Among the prohibited speech and expression portion of the sheriff’s office’s “Speech, Expression, and Social Networking” section, policies include avoiding speech or expression that “tends to compromise or damage the mission, function, reputation, or professionalism of the Office or its members,” such as statements that indicate disregard for the law or the state or U.S. Constitutions. Also among violations is speech or expression contrary to the canons of the Law Enforcement Code of Ethics and posts that could be seen as having a negative impact on the safety of sheriff’s office members.

 

Featured photo by the Chapel Hill Media Group.

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