ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A deputy director in Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration who drew criticism of his social media posts about fatal shootings during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, says he should not have been fired for giving his opinion online.
Arthur “Mac” Love IV was removed from his role as the deputy director of the Governor’s Office of Community Initiatives over the weekend. His spokesman, Gary Collins, said at a news conference Monday that Love would seek possible legal action for his termination.
His posts were in support of Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, who fatally shot two people and wounded another after traveling to Kenosha to protect businesses from protesters responding to the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse has since been charged with first-degree intentional homicide.
Collins said the posts were “tongue-and-cheek,” and that Love did not regret making them. He contended that the governor was cracking down on the “freedom of speech” exercised by employees “on their own time, on their own private social media accounts.”
Steve McAdams, executive director of the Governor’s Office on Community Initiatives, called the posts “divisive images” that were “inconsistent with the mission and core values of the Office of Community Initiatives.”
Shareese Churchill, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Saturday that the posts were “totally inappropriate”
The Office of Community Initiatives oversees the state’s ethnic and cultural commissions, community service programs and religious outreach, according to the Baltimore Sun.
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