TPD Lieutenant under investigation following Facebook post about Trump assassination attempt

TULSA, Okla. — A Tulsa Police lieutenant is currently facing an internal investigation following a Facebook post regarding the assassination attempt on Former President Donald Trump .

Lt. Darin Ehrenreich, the head of TPD's Special Victims Unit, posted on Facebook using an account under a different name, the department confirmed. He posted a song lyric alluding to the assassination attempt made on Trump while he was speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania this past Saturday.

On Saturday, an attempt was made on Trump's life leaving him injured after a bullet skimmed his ear.

In the post, Ehrenreich said he's reminded of a song lyric along the lines of "Well, it could have been a better shot."

FOX23 has interviewed Ehrenreich on several occasions.

Most recently, we've highlighted his efforts and successes in using old DNA sex assault exam kits to bring charges against offenders in cases that had gone cold.

"We found several, repeat multiple offenders from going back and doing this work," he said in a previous interview.

It's this continual pursuit of protection and justice for victims that made a lot of people question the content of the Facebook post.

"On it's face, I would say the post is not appropriate...particularly at this time and date," said Tulsa attorney Tim Gilpin.

Former police chief Chuck Jordan called the post "unbelievable."

"Hopefully it's an unpopular opinion to many many people of both sides of the political spectrum," Gilpin said.

After the posts gained traction, Ehrenreich changed his profile picture to an edited photo showing Trump's face on Van Gogh's body, a famous painter well known for cutting off his own ear.

"Getting down to the nitty gritty, cause everybody knows, 'Hey that kind of bothers me.' 'Why does that bother you?' I think to me, when I was thinking about it, the thought process is a police officer takes an oath to protect and serve everybody," Gilpin said.

"Everybody wants to feel like when they come up against this authority figure, that they are being treated fairly," he continued.

And that calls into question another comment made on the post where Ehrenreich refers to Trump being flown to "pedophile island" and how it was gross, a nickname created regarding financier Jeffrey Epstein's island, Little St. James.

Epstein was accused and charged for his alleged involvement in sex trafficking and child sexual abuse. Epstein died of a reported suicide in 2019 while in prison before his trial.

Though Ehrenreich alluded to Trump being involved with Epstein's case, no actual charges were ever filed tying him to the case.

"Clearly when looking at it, someone in the special crimes unit deals with the worst of the worst. They see things that you and I never want to see, unless we have to, and I would anticipate that would make that individual feel strongly about those issues. Now the trick is how do they communicate that," Gilpin said.

FOX23 found the social media policy for the police department.

It is lengthy, but part of it reads:

"Employees shall not publish or post any content on any social media that is defamatory, obscene, or unlawful, that may impair or impede the efficient operation of the department, that interferes with the ability of supervisors to maintain discipline or is made with reckless disregard for truth or falsity."

FOX23 reached out to Tulsa Police Cpt. Richard Meulenberg who said “the Tulsa Police Department is aware of a social media post made by an account under the control of Lt. Darin Ehrenreich. It is currently under investigation.”

Gilpin said the only thing working in Ehrenreich's favor at this point is that the account did have a different name and nowhere on it is he identified as a TPD officer.

Gilpin said he doesn't believe this will affect any of the cases Ehrenreich is working on or has worked on in the past.

FOX23 also reached out to Ehrenreich, but have not heard back yet. As of now, the original post has been deleted.