DURHAM POLICE CHIEF
ON THE HOT SEAT FOR
ANTI-CHARLIE KIRK POST
By Cash Michaels
The Durham City Council last week refused to punished Police Chief Patrice Andrews after calls for her removal in the wake of her now deleted social media post criticizing slain conservative activist, podcaster and Turning Point USA leader Charlie Kirk for his previous negative remarks about prominent black women.
Political conservatives in the Durham community have called for Chief Andrews to be fired, saying that as a city official, she represents all of Durham’s citizenry, and should not be allowed to express divisive comments.
The NC Sheriff Police Alliance has also criticized Andrews.
The council, led by Mayor Leonardo Williams, expressed support for Chief Andrews, however. Mayor Williams said he personally spoke with Chief Andrews about what she wrote on Facebook.
Andrews, a Black woman, criticized Kirk, who was assassinated in Utah on Sept. 10th during an appearance at Utah Valley University there. A suspect is now in custody.
“I won't stop being outraged at the way this man is being honored by people that I thought I knew,” Andrews wrote. “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."
In the past, Kirk has specifically bashed political commentator Joy Reid, former First Lady Michelle Obama, the late Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee and U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson as not having “brain processing power to otherwise be taken seriously,” a statement many critics deemed as racist.
He added that those black women were “affirmative action picks” who had to “go steal a white person’s slot to be taken somewhat seriously.”
During a 2023 podcast, Kirk is heard to say, “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.”
He also said that if he got on a plane, and saw that the pilot was black, that that would concern him, a not-so veiled slam at DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies. Kirk also called passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a “mistake.”
In a statement, the city of Durham noted that Chief Andrews' social media post was being reviewed, but so far, there is no indication that she broke any city employee policies.
She wrote the anti-Charlie Kirk post on her own personal Facebook page on her own personal time, which according to city policy, is allowed.
Only the Durham city manager has the power to terminate Chief Andrews, who has led the police department here since 2021, but there’s no indication of that happening.
“We cannot be selective on who gets to exercise the First Amendment,” Mayor Williams said.
“I have been in the hot seat myself several times speaking in 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. We are human and sometimes we make that mistake.”
“I spoke to [Andrews] personally and her intent was not to create outrage. It was her expressing her personal views within her own personal network. However, she’s the chief of police and it affects the residents of Durham if they’re interpreting it as such.”
“The First Amendment, freedom of speech, is accessible to us all, whether we like each other or not. It is for all of us, “ Mayor Williams continued. “You cannot be selectively outraged and try to determine who gets access to that or not.”
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