Police officer demoted following insensitive social media post after Trump shooting

Ten days without pay and a demotion, including salary adjustment, is the punishment for a small-town police officer in North Carolina following a sensitive post to social media after an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

Brandon Richardson, formerly a detective sergeant with the Tarboro Police Department, is being reclassified to corporal rank and pay, Town Manager Troy Lewis wrote in an email to The Center Square on Friday afternoon. He’ll also go through remedial training in social media usage.

Lewis wrote the decision comes “after considerable investigation and deliberation.” Chief Rick Mann conducted the investigation and gave a recommendation to the town manager.

Tarboro is a town of about 10,700, not far off Interstate 95 in the eastern part of the state. U.S. 64 runs from I-95 to the Outer Banks.

Trump, by the split-second turn of his head, escaped with a wound to his ear when a 20-year-old opened fire last Saturday evening at the Republican presidential nominee’s rally in Butler, Pa. Not long afterward, 500 miles south in Tarboro, Richardson used an expletive when posting, “D---. Only an inch away from making America great again…”

The post has since been removed and Richardson apologized on the site. Trump continued his campaign this week at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wis., on Thursday accepting the party nomination with Sen. J.D. Vance, R-Ohio, as his vice-presidential running mate. They’ll be in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Saturday.

Trump will also be in Charlotte on Wednesday, hosting a rally at the Bojangles' Coliseum.

A month away from his 24th anniversary with the department, Richardson on Monday was placed on unpaid leave. His previous salary was $68,926 following a 4% cost of living increase this year.

Lewis, in an email to The Center Square earlier this week, wrote, “While we will not know the longstanding impact of this incident, we take this matter very seriously and understand that there is a possibility that such statements can have a negative impact on public trust. The Tarboro Police Department always strives to operate with the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.”

He indicated Richardson had met those standards while on duty for the town.

Richardson is not alone in facing repercussions for social media posts after the assassination attempt. Published reports show workers of all types, including university educators and everyday blue-collar workers, ran afoul of company policies and in many cases lost their jobs.