A deputy sheriff in Virginia was fired over social media posts that threatened politicians, 'liberal' judges, and tech CEOs

• A deputy sheriff in Prince William County, Virginia, was fired after it was discovered he was the owner of an account on the right-wing social media website Parler that made threatening posts against governors, politicians, judges, and CEOs.
• "Find them. Remove them from their sanctuary. Bring the nightmare to where they lay their heads and kiss their loved ones. Show them that they are NOT untouchable," one post read.
• In one photo posted to Parler, the user behind the account appeared to share a photo of a myriad of weapons in his possession, including some inside a vest with the word "SHERIFF" inscribed on it.
• Aaron Hoffman, the fired deputy, told The Washington Post that he had recently created a Parler account but said he didn't make the posts.

A deputy sheriff in Prince William County, Virginia, was fired after it was discovered he was the owner of an account on Parler that made threatening posts against governors, politicians, judges, and CEOs.

In one post to Parler, a conservative social media platform, the account, "WeThePeopleWarrior," encouraged their followers to "take back your state capitals."

"Find the homes of every governor, mayor, attorney general, liberal judge, senator, congressman and every major media/social media CEO," the post reads. "Find them. Remove them from their sanctuary. Bring the nightmare to where they lay their heads and kiss their loved ones. Show them that they are NOT untouchable."

While all posts from the account appear to have been recently deleted, screenshots of the Parler post have been shared on Twitter by Molly Conger, the Virginia-based journalist and activist who first reported about the account.

In an interview with The Washington Post, the fired deputy Aaron Hoffman said he had recently created a Parler account, but denied making the posts, telling the outlet he was unsure of who made them.

"I do understand the community's concern," Hoffman told The Washington Post. "I've been a public servant for over 15 years, and I take that very seriously. I am in no way a threat to the public. This disturbs me as well."

"Early yesterday our agency was notified about disturbing comments being made on several social media outlets by a deputy sheriff. Sheriff Hill was notified and ordered an Internal Affairs investigation," The Prince William County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted to Facebook. "The investigation has concluded and the deputy has been terminated from employment with our office."

In one photo posted to Parler, the person behind the Parler account appeared to share a photo of a myriad of weapons in his possession, some inside a vest with the word "SHERIFF" inscribed on it.

On another Parler post that questioned how to remove US Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts from his position atop the nation's highest court, the user behind the "WeThePeopleWarrior" account commented it "sounds like his life needs to be shortened."

In an additional post, the user said he would kill anyone who attempted to give his children the COVID-19 vaccine without his consent, a response to a local proposal in Washington, DC that would allow children to be vaccinated without parental consent, as The Washington Post noted. And in another, he said he would become "insanely violent" should he be asked to wear a face mask to prevent the spread of the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

"No one seems bold enough to confront me for not wearing a mask," the post read. "I guess it's God keeping me from murdering the mentally ill."

Parler was founded in 2018 but skyrocketed in popularity this year among conservatives and members of the far-right who sought a new platform after sites like Twitter and Facebook began efforts to more thoroughly moderate the spread of misinformation and disinformation ahead of the 2020 election, as Insider's Rachel E. Greenspan and Paige Leskin previously reported.

The founder of Parler has denied that it a right-wing website, though experts previously told Insider that it poses a disinformation threat as more extremists flock to it.