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Durham Police Chief Patrice
Andrews is receiving scrutiny for social media comments she made about the late
Charlie Kirk.
A 22-year-old man is accused of shooting and
killing Kirk on Wednesday at a Turning Point USA event at Utah
Valley University.
In a now-deleted Facebook post
on her personal page, Andrews said she’s outraged by people she knows who still
support Kirk.
“I won’t
stop being outraged at the way this man is being honored by people that I
thought I knew,” Andrews wrote in the deleted post. “This man, who disguised
himself as a Christian, shamed Black women like me, believed that gun violence
was necessary to preserve the 2nd amendment, and created a culture of
divisiveness through hate speech.”
One
of Kirk’s comments about Black women came on Jan. 3, 2024, on his podcast when
he said, “If I’m dealing with somebody in
customer service who’s a moronic Black woman, I don’t — I wonder is she there
because of her excellence, or is she there because affirmative action? It
almost creates thought patterns that are not necessarily wholesome. It creates
resentment, doesn’t it? This is not a way to design society.”
Andrews
wrote, “So, at the time of his death, I chose to give him the
empathy that he didn’t believe in and certainly didn’t believe that people like
me deserved. But to know many of you STILL support him despite his horrible
rhetoric.. I cannot.”
WRAL News
requested an interview with Andrews, but she
declined. Andrews did meet on Monday
with Durham City Manager Bo Ferguson.
Durham Mayor Leonardo Williams on Monday said of Andrews’
deleted post, “This is, to some, a shut up and dribble moment.”
He
was echoing a comment by Fox News host Laura Ingraham who said in 2018 that NBA
star LeBron James should “shut up and dribble,” after the All-Star
spoke out about politics.
Durham mayor on police
chief’s Charlie Kirk post: ‘We’re reviewing the matter’
Williams answered several of
WRAL News’ questions about Andrews’ post.
“The city
of Durham is aware of a personal social media post made by Police Chief Patrice
Andrews, and the post was made on the chief’s personal social media account and
not any official city or police department platform we oversee,” Williams said.
“We’re reviewing the matter to determine whether any city policies were
violated.”
WRAL News
asked Williams if the city of Durham directed Andrews to take down the post.
Williams said he wasn’t sure.
Also, WRAL News asked Williams
if the city’s chief of police should make statements like she did on social
media.
“That’s the most interesting
question right now, because we cannot be selective on who gets to exercise the
First Amendment,” Williams said. “I have been in the hot seat myself several
times, speaking of my own capacity.
“I will say that we as public
servants, we do have to be aware of the impact of our verbiage, whether it’s in
our personal capacity or not.”
Williams said he spoke with
Andrews and said it wasn’t her intent to create outrage.
WRAL News also asked Williams
if Andrews should face any discipline.
“I’m very careful and select,
being selective on who can exercise the First Amendment,” Williams said. “I
think the same question should be posted to situations when Melissa Hortman and
her husband were killed or … [if] I said something and it caused public
outrage, should I face discipline?
“I say that people should face
discipline when they’ve done something wrong. I think … I don’t think that the
chief, I don’t think she did anything wrong. I think she did something that was
very sensitive. She spoke out in a personal capacity at a time where politics
are extremely charged.”
Williams wouldn’t answer if he
agreed with Andrews’ statement.
What the Durham Police
Department’s social media policy says
WRAL News obtained a copy of Durham Police Department’s social media policy.
“Employees should not assume
that content on social media is private,” the policy states. “Members should
monitor content on their social networking sites with the expectation that the
information may at some point be viewed by City officials, supervisors, staff
and co-workers, as well as members of the public, such as the media, defense
counsel, criminal suspects and defendants.
“Members should consider the
possible adverse consequences that social media content may have on their
professional activities, such as future employment opportunities, credibility
as a witness, and public as well as private reputation. Members are also
cautioned to carefully consider the impact that social media content may have
on their personal safety and the safety of co-workers.”
When using social media,
members of the Durham Police Department are not allowed to disparage or
criticize the city, the department, its members, officials and community with
which it works and services. Displaying content that is sexually explicit, violent,
discriminatory or derogatory toward people based on race, gender, national
origin, ethnicity, religion or sexual orientation is also not allowed.
Other NC leaders share their
perspectives on Andrews’ deleted post on Charlie Kirk
State Rep. Brenden Jones,
R-Columbus and Robeson counties, called Andrews’ post “disgusting.”
Former Durham County Sheriff
Mike Andrews posted that he is “disappointed” in Andrews’ post and said,
“Leadership does not lead publicly like this.”
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