#Georgia cop fired after calling for ‘hanging’ of black men convicted of murder

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Robert “Skipper” Dunn
Georgia Peace Officer Standards

A Georgia police officer lost his job over an “inappropriate” Facebook post calling for the hanging of five black men convicted in a brutal 2016 murder, department officials said.

Robert “Skipper” Dunn, a part-time cop for the Rossville Police Department, was terminated after a “detailed internal review” of the offending post, police said in a statement Thursday.

Dunn on Monday shared a post showing the mugshots of five black men convicted in a 2016 home invasion and murder in Georgia, adding that he thought a “hanging is in order,” WTVC reported.

The post has since been deleted, according to the station.

Four of the men convicted in the death of Dorothy Dow, 83, have been sentenced to life behind bars, while the fifth was sent to prison for seven years, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Dow was found burned to death inside her Meriwether County home, where a flammable liquid was poured on her body and both of her arms were broken, police said.

Prior to his termination, Dunn — who had been employed by department for three years — insisted he’s not a racist, claiming he would call for capital punishment in the case regardless of the race of those convicted. He’s also upset that his longtime law enforcement career may now be over, he told WTVC while declining an on-camera interview.

“It is important that everyone understand Officer Dunn certainly enjoys the First Amendment right to post his opinions,” Rossville police said. “However, when those posts or opinions detract from his ability to effectively serve the community it is in the best interest of the community that he no longer be assigned those duties.”

Dunn, who started working for LaFayette police in 1981, has spent nearly four decades in law enforcement, according to records cited by the Journal-Constitution.

In 2014, Dunn was demoted from lieutenant to peace officer while working with LaFayette police, although details of the disciplinary action were not provided in his personnel file. He then retired from the department in 2017 before later joining Rossville police as a part-time officer, the newspaper reports.