Prince William County deputy fired after 'threatening' social media posts
A Prince William County Sheriff’s Deputy is out of a job after multiple disturbing social media posts were discovered on his alleged social media account.
A journalist in Charlottesville, Virginia first revealed the threatening comments in a viral string of tweets on Twitter.
The disturbing posts are found on a conservative platform called Parler under the account "WeThePeople."
FOX 5’s Sierra Fox spoke to the former sheriff’s deputy, Aaron Hoffman, by phone. He calls the situation a giant nightmare and denies he's behind the posts.
"No, I did not make the post. That was my Parler account from what I’ve been shown so far. I saw some weird irregularities going on top of some of my e-mail accounts started going haywire with tons of spam and what not so I started deleting everything, trying to figure out where it was coming from then got called into the Sheriff’s office with we got an issue," Hoffman said.
The Prince William County Sheriff, Glendell Hill, fired Hoffman after ordering an internal affairs investigation.
A statement on the department’s Facebook page reads in part: "We thank the public for bringing this to our attention."
"I totally understand Sheriff Hill’s decision in this because it does look bad," Hoffman said.
A post he allegedly wrote on Parler said: "Find the homes of every governor, mayor, attorney general, liberal judge, senator, congressman, and every major media/social media CEO… Find them remove them from their sanctuary. Bring the nightmare to where they lay their heads at night and kiss their loved ones."
"I do not in any way condone violence towards elected officials. I’ve been a public servant for 15 years and I’ve taken that very seriously," Hoffman said. "I am not part of any groups, militias, any extremist, I don’t go to rallies."
On the phone, Hoffman said he is a conservative and has a Parler account, but barely uses it. He believes he was hacked and wants to find out who set him up.
FOX 5 asked Hoffman what’s next and if he’d like to get back into law enforcement. He said he does not think so and is taking this controversy as a sign to step away.
On Facebook, Virginia Delegate Danica Roem is calling for more accountability and transparency.
"This Prince William County Sheriff’s deputy advocated for the violent overthrow of government officials," she said. "That’s never okay, let alone after all that’s happened in 2020."
This is a developing story. Stay with FOX 5 DC for updates.