Deputy fired for post depicting Kamala Harris as watermelon jack-o’-lantern

A Michigan sheriff’s deputy has been fired for posting a “disgusting” photo of a carved watermelon intended to depict Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, department officials said.

The part-time Oakland County Sheriff’s Office deputy, Sherry Prose, was terminated immediately once department officials learned of the vile Facebook post, officials told The Post in a statement Thursday.

“We are outraged by this former employee’s actions and condemn the behavior she chose to engage in,” Undersheriff Michael McCabe said in a statement. “These types of incidents are disgusting and will never be tolerated or pushed aside at the sheriff’s office. Behavior such as this brings tarnish to the badge and is not representative [of] all those in law enforcement who protect and serve.”

The post, first reported Monday by WXYZ, features several carved pumpkins meant to depict several political figures, including President Trump, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President Mike Pence.

A second photo, however, shows Harris as a carved watermelon.

“Trump, Biden, Pence and Kamala,” the post read. “Happy Halloween.”

Prose had worked for the agency since 1994, according to a screenshot of her Facebook profile. She was fired on Oct. 27, four days after putting up the hateful Halloween-themed post, sheriff’s department sources told The Post.

A message left for Prose was not immediately returned Thursday, but she insisted to WXYZ that she isn’t a bigot.

“I worked hard in my law enforcement career and I am proud of the reputation I earned in my 30 plus years of service,” the former deputy told the station in a text. “I am not racist and never will be.”

Correlating watermelons to blacks is a relic of the “past” and is “linked to buffoonery and to ‘less than’,” the Rev. Dr. Wendell Anthony, president of Detroit’s NAACP branch, told the station.

“I believe that the intent was purposely structured to diminish and to dilute the significance of the first African American … as vice president of the United States,” Anthony said. “To some people, ignorance is bliss.”

McCabe said the post had already been removed when sheriff’s officials learned of it.

“The employee was terminated immediately by us for this post,” his statement continued. “With over 1,400 employees, we expect all of them to have integrity and good moral values. However, when they do not, it is addressed immediately with discipline and/or termination.”

via: https://nypost.com/2020/11/19/deputy-fired-for-depicting-kamala-harris-as-a-watermelon/

Photo Credit: nypost.com