A Tarboro police officer will not be dismissed from duty but was disciplined for remarks via his social media link about the failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump, who was campaigning in Pennsylvania.
Brandon Richardson, who has been on the town's force for nearly 24 years, was suspended for 10 days without pay and demoted to the rank of corporal, Town Manager Troy Lewis said via email late Friday afternoon.
Additionally, Richardson will have to go undergo remedial training in the use of social media, Lewis said.
Lewis said that the disciplinary action was taken “after considerable investigation and deliberation” and that the town would have no further comment about the matter.
Richardson, who had been a detective sergeant, was taken off the payroll July 15 while disciplinary action was being considered.
Richardson, in his posting about the assassination attempt, said, “Damn. Only about an inch from making America great again …” which references Trump's slogan “Make America Great Again.”
Mary Helen Pelt, who co-administers the Rocky Mount Concerned Citizens Facebook page, in a phone interview Sunday night, said that she believes the decision as announced by the town Friday was the wrong one.
"It is a slap on the wrist," Pelt said.
Pelt said that she believes Richardson should resign.
"I think that would have been the more honorable thing for him to do," Pelt said. "He did admit his mistake, but he is a police officer. He totes a badge and a gun — and now the public knows his view. And that would make people have a lack of confidence in his decision-making."
Pelt said she was tipped off anonymously about Richardson's social media post. Pelt responded by posting an image of Richardson’s post on the concerned citizens link.
Tarboro police Chief Rick Mann, via the town police department’s social media page, has said that the department took the matter seriously and that Richardson's post does not reflect the department’s values and standards.
Mann also has said that an internal investigation was launched to find out the context and details surrounding the post.
On July 16, Richardson posted an apology to everyone who was hurt or offended by his post about the shooting, which he said was a joke.
Richardson said that post was an attempt at “dark humor” and in his apology, he said that what he had done was completely out of line and in poor taste.
Richardson in his apology also said that he wanted to make clear that he does not condone violence in any form and would never wish harm on anyone.
Trump, a Republican and a New York businessman who has been campaigning to win election back to the presidency after losing his reelection bid in 2020, was speaking at a rally July 13 in the Keystone State. Trump was wounded in his right ear after shots rang out.
Thomas Matthew Crooks, who had opened fire with a rifle, was fatally shot by U.S. Secret Service snipers in response. A former fire chief also was killed trying to shield his family and two others also were critically injured.
Richardson joined the Tarboro Police Department as an officer in mid-August 2000 and became a detective by late April 2014.
By mid-April 2017, Richardson achieved the rank of detective corporal and shortly after the start of August 2017, he achieved the rank of detective sergeant.
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