A Virginia police officer lost his job this week after a data breach at a crowdfunding site revealed that he had donated $25 to Kyle Rittenhouse’s legal fund and posted a note supporting the teen.
Lieutenant William Kelly worked in internal affairs for the Norfolk Police Department but was placed on administrative leave last week after The Guardian reported on the donation information obtained from the crowdfunding site GiveSendGo.
“God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong,” Kelly posted along with his donation. “Every rank and file police officer supports you. Don’t be discouraged by actions of the political class of law enforcement leadership.”
Just days after being placed on administrative leave, Kelly’s employer fired him.
“Chief Larry Boone and I have concluded Lt. Kelly’s actions are in violation of City and departmental policies,” Chip Filer, the city manager of Norfolk, said in a statement. “His egregious comments erode the trust between the Norfolk Police Department and those they are sworn to serve. The City of Norfolk has a standard of behavior for all employees, and we will hold staff accountable.”
SEE ALSO: Kyle Rittenhouse: The Truth in 11 Minutes
Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone admitted that their actions were taken in large part due to the public perception of Rittenhouse’s actions in Kenosha on August 25 of last year.
“A police department cannot do its job when the public loses trust with those whose duty is to serve and protect them,” Boone said. “We do not want perceptions of any individual officer to undermine the relations between the Norfolk Police Department and the community.”
Rittenhouse is facing several felony charges of homicide and intentional homicide in connection with his actions at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse shot and killed two men and seriously injured another with an AR-15.
SEE ALSO: Man Shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha Riots Speaks Out: ‘I’m in Constant Pain’
Available video evidence suggests that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense after being pursued by multiple armed assailants. At the very least, the facts of the case have not been adjudicated, so it’s unclear how the Norfolk Police Department will justify firing an officer for acting in his personal capacity.
The information about Kelly’s donation was given to The Guardian by a “transparency group” called Distributed Denial of Secrets, which the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis has described as a “criminal hacker group.” The data breach revealed information and identities of some of Rittenhouse’s donors who had tried to use the website’s anonymity feature to conceal their identities.
In total, Rittenhouse received over $500,000 to help pay his legal fees.
Does it matter that the guy he shot was pointing a pistol at Rittenhouse? Does it matter that one of the guys chasing him said “I will kill you if I catch you alone”? What would you liberals do if either of these acts happened to you? Just rollover and say I am happy to have you shoot and kill me? Get real-look at facts. Rittenhouse was on the ground after being struck by a skate board in the head and another guy standing over him pointing a gun at him.
If that officer was fired for his donation and comment then the “vice president” should be impeached and jailed for her open support and call to the public to donate to the “blm” criminals defense fund. Why is she any different ? She did it at a public gathering in front of T.V. and newspaper reporters. She personally sent money, possibly from her “campaign funds” which is also illegal to bail these criminals out of jail. Nobody seems to care about what these sleazy politicians do.
Typical idiot cop.
Typical idiot commy response by you a commy. Go hate cops somewhere else plz.
Is there not standing judicial precedent that an employer cannot fire or prevent an employee from their freedom of expression outside of work…
Seriously, just because you are a police officer does not mean you are not allowed to have an opinion. If anything more so you should have a strong opinion and stand for something rather than nothing. Police officers are people, not mindless drones… I hope he sues the ever living “F” out of Norfolk PD, and gets enough of a win that he never has to work again… And screw that chief for not backing his man, and bowing down to the political class. If anything policing should be about FACT NOT PERCEPTION…. Stand for what is right, even if it is unpopular!
Sounds like suppression of his first ammendment rights.
Chief boone is the one that should be fired, he fired one of his officers only because he was scared of what a couple idiots would say about his department, chief boone is another loser with no balls period
If you believe that Americans still enjoy “Freedom of the Press”, you had better re-examine the manner in which the Main Stream Media (MSM) Press covered the Kyle Rittenhouse story.
Most of the MSM news stations did not tell even a fraction of the Truth as they were all supporting Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests across the USA which is contrary to how journalism has served the people for generations. The only responsibility the MSM news has to the people is to simply report the news, not fabricate or make up the news.
There was a very interesting Documentary Film created after the Kyle Rittenhouse story occurred where the creator of the film was not attempting to absolve Kyle or to show his guilt, but was only trying to get to the bottom of the story by simply reporting what had transpired, and he ended up showing how Kyle was nearly killed by proponents of the BLM Movement while enjoying his right of Freedom of Assembly.
This is not the America that I grew up in and I volunteered to Protect and to Defend while serving in the US Military. Today, certain elements of our domestic government have taken a 180-degree change or an about-face from what American Life was like when we grew-up from attempting to defund the local Police Departments across our Country to supporting Black Lives Matter without question to use the financial donations and continued financial support of big business magnates from Michael Bloomberg, George Soros, and Mark Zuckerberg to name only a few; you just might be surprised to see how long the list of wealthy donors actually is to subvert our Government’s Constitution while our US Supreme Court sits on its hands and does absolutely nothing.
In case you haven’t noticed, the Democrats are attempting to change our US Constitution by adding a new State, the District of Columbia as the 51st State which would suggest more representatives in Congress and in the Senate as well as all new maps and a new flag. The Democrats are also attempting to add an additional 4 Justices to our US Supreme Court, from the Constitutional number of 9 to 13 in hopes of tipping the balance. The Democrats are also attempting to re-write our US Constitution by rescinding our Second Amendment; what will be next, our First Amendment?
In case you have not noticed we have been domestically at war for a while now, where certain levels of our government are no longer doing their jobs to protect the people but are in fact attempting to separate the people by dividing the people, and locking the people up at home during the Covid-19 Pandemic while the jails and the prisons have released inmates back into society by the decree of the Democrats.
At no time in the previous history of the USA have we ever been such a dysfunctional country. How do we get back to the basics?
So this police officer was fired for voicing a personal opinion, on a private website, based on illegally obtained evidence. Got that.
Time to lawyer up.
Cops should just quit in droves in everywhere but small towns. Leave every city that sides with BLM to lawlessness and as every person who says people shouldn’t own guns gets beaten, raped, murdered or robbed, Then they can understand why people would want the ability to defend themselves. Though it might not work as all the dumb white women who bought into the concept that they are over-privileged probably feel they have to be raped by POC to make up for all the injustices.
if i knew where to send the donations i would send a gift card good for 2 gallons of gasoline and a case of condoms, we cant have any of those peaceful RAPIST getting the aids from those rabid bitches!!
liberals live in big democrat ran cities, so im happy to see them burn down. my dad is a liberal and he lied to me about my brother and 2 sisters stealing $35,000 from me!
liberals can burn in HELL for all i care!!
This is pretty clearly a first amendment issue. Government cannot penalize you for voicing your opinion, even if its repugnant (which this clearly is not)
When you look at what happened, though, the reason on the termination papers matters. If they terminated him for this donation then they are going to lose. If they terminated him for use of computer systems in an unauthorized manner, then he is going to be stuck.
Either way, i wouldn’t want to work at this place. It seems like a hostile work environment for someone who has common sense and compassion for others who have common sense.
Common sense ain’t so common anymore.
What kind of idiot puts (he\him) as part of their name? NO ONE CARES, idiot.
My “bottom line” thought is here at the top:
If Kyle Rittenhouse had not been carrying a rifle, there would have been no deaths.
We know that owning / carrying a firearm is a heavy responsibility. I was taught that one should not UNNECESSARILY put oneself in harms way presuming that having a gun will make it alright. I carry for defense if needed– not to push the boundaries of safe space.
If we want to understand the non-shooter’s confusion, we have to consider the visual similarities of the AR-15 (Rittenhouse weapon) and the M16 battle rifle. One is a modern sporting rifle. The other actually is a “weapon of war”. I personally don’t know all the visual differences. Also, many civilians mistakenly think that “AR” stands for “Automatic Rifle”.
Rittenhouse, 17, was unable to purchase a firearm so he had a 18 year-old friend purchase it for him.
https://www.atf.gov/firearms/qa/does-customer-have-be-certain-age-buy-firearms-or-ammunition-licensee
“Online court records show prosecutors in Kenosha charged 19-year-old Dominick Black on Nov. 3 with two felony counts of supplying a dangerous weapon to a minor causing death. Black, who was 18 at the time of the purchase, told authorities that he purchased the weapon at a hardware store in Wisconsin. He could face up to 25 years in prison if convicted on both counts.”
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/kyle-rittenhouse-reveals-how-gun-was-paid-for-in-first-interview-since-arrest/2366751/
Here is an account of some ofRittenhouse’s background and his actions in Kenosha.
https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/trending/kenosha-timeline-court-docs-detail-shooter-kyle-rittenhouses-actions-night-protesters-killings/DF3G3T5U65FQVCORO5XZPTR57Y/
I disagree with you on two counts Rudolf , first of all their would have been a death if Kyle didn’t have his weapon with him , it would have been his. Yes, I believe they would have killed him. Second thing is most civilians don’t think of ar style rifles as an automatic rifle , they call them assault rifles, which neither is correct, the correct term was made by a company that was one of the first to make AR’s they are called Armalite Rifle ! Kyle Rittenhouse defended himself, he didn’t do anything to be put in jail for. Good luck Kyle keep your head up. He is a Patriot by all accounts !
Mr. Smith, I agree with your correction in re “assault” rather than “automatic’ rifle. I made a poor choice of words.. Thank you for straightening that out.
However. on the other point, I disagree regarding “deaths”.
I do not think that Kyle Rittenhouse would have even been noticed if he were simply a teenager attending as a counter-protester. An unarmed counter-protester (“who is 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs about 150 pounds.”) would have provoked little reaction.
What was Rittenhouse’s role there? In an earlier response to that question, he said “…our job is to protect this business.” Why was that his responsibility? –in a town 20 miles from his home??
My premise is that the life or death circumstance he faced was of his own making. His ILLEGALLY OBTAINED AR-15 gave him a false self-importance that provoked the ARMED confrontation. Once that confrontation began, violence was highly likely.
Since I can find no evidence that any other counter-protesters were attacked by the crowd before the shooting, I repeat my “bottom line” thought here:
If Kyle Rittenhouse had not been carrying a rifle, there would have been no deaths.
Thank you for reading my response.
Dolf
Let me get this straight, for complete accuracy…. Most of the time, cops do not miss a beat; NO LOSS OF JOB, NO CHARGES, NOT EVEN A WRITE UP, FOR KILLING SOMEONE ( ESPECIALLY IF THAT SOMEONE IS WHITE) BUT GIVING ON THEIR OWN TIME, TO A CAUSE OF THEIR CHOICE, WITH MONEY THEY EARNED, BY AN ILLEGAL BREACH, GETS THEM FIRED! WTF????,
Yeah, I’m afraid that’s about right.
Help me understand this. It is ok for a congresswoman like maxine watters to incite violence, ignore justice, and demand that they declare a police officer guilty of all charges much like wartime Germany yet cry out foul for supporting a young man that went to aid the injured and ended defending himself. Folks, this is beyond my comprehension. maxine not only went against the very law she swore she would defend but demanded police protection at taxpayer expense. Talk about double standards!!! We all need to boot out every damn one of the left wing idiots and perhaps have a law showing that lawmakers must have an IQ of above 65 in Constitutional law to be eligible to hold office. This would eliminate I;d say about 95 percent of congress now in office!
You’re absolutely correct on every point. watters and other wannabes to have an I.Q.’s greater than 65? Perhaps that face/mug of watters might be viewed as a lethal weapon but an I.Q. of 65? Recall the hateful demoRATS!
This is why we need term limits for ALL politicians.
Well now the law enforcement officer can move to a good department and NOT work for the Mayer or the rest of those political ass clowns. Dont forget to sue them for back pay for wrongful discharge
Told my son you don’t want to work for the city your boss is a politician and they are notorious Double talking shifty ass liers
I was on the NPD many years ago and know Chief Boone back when he was an officer; he is a fair individual.
The article, while factual, is misleading because it left out a key element. Lt Kelly did this on a departmental computer and posted the message/submitted the donation using his departmental e-mail.
While I was there we didn’t have e-mail, however the later department I served (which did have email) and the federal government (which I work now) all long ago established clear guidance on the appropriate use of departmental electronic devices and messaging systems.
I was involved in Virginia LE accreditation, and all accredited departments were required to do so.
Additionally as a supervisor (he was a Sergeant when this occurred), and manager (he had been promoted to LT, and in a particularly high-trust position in internal affairs), one is expected to have a higher-level of discernment and scrutiny in decision-making (both expected and stated in policy). This was not an action which shows/exhibits a high-level of trust. Additionally it is something he would have investigated and recommended discipline for an officer. If an officer committed this infraction, he would probably have been suspended without pay for a week or two. As a Police manager committing the infraction, if I were the Police Chief, I would have also terminated the LT for not only violating the policy, but poor judgement, and loss of trust in the Police Manager.
Officer are held to a higher standard than citizens, supervisors to a higher standard than officers, Managers to the highest standard.
I’m always sad to see someone be dismissed, but it was a bone-head move on the part of the LT (especially as an Internal Affairs Manager).
Just because he used a dept email he deserves to be fired? His actions were “egregious”? Get real. He did nothing wrong. At best they could hit him with a day or two for misusing dept equipment, even that is extreme. Everything he said was 100% accurate and boone only proved he was one of the political drones that are responsible for the shit show this country is becoming. Kyle is clearly innocent and this officer did nothing wrong. It’s not like he used department funds to give away, he used his own money. This is a prime example of the scum of law enforcement he was referencing. Boone is clearly not a fair man, this clearly was a massive overreaction and even his statements show what a true moron he is. Do you actually think people are sitting there thinking…”can’t trust a Norfolk Police Department now, they had a guy send one personal email out, oh good lord!”. Get real.
Ok, I get your point. Now…if he had made a public donation to BLM would he have suffered the same consequences?
Thank you for the additional information! This is the context that was missing from the original article, the context that makes the whole story reasonable and make sense.
Pardon, but that’s kind of bullcrap. I get woke leftist shit propagandist emails all the time on my government account. It is only when it is a conservative viewpoint that it is cracked down on.
Bingo! Politically motivated action taken against a good officer. Would verbal and written warnings have sufficed? Would such penalties fit the officer’s actions? If not, suspend him for an hour or a day to permanently scar his record. Take your liberal revenge, chief, but eliminate the man’s ability to feed his family??? I have a hunch that Lt. Kelly will in time be much better for the liberally driven punishment given him. Chief, hang your head in shame!
I recently retired from the Veteran Affairs and know the federal regs on computer use. All federal employees ARE allowed to use computers on their breaks for personal use provided they stay off porn sites. Making a donation and a private message is absolutely allowed if done on a break period.
Coward move to not support your cops.
I hope that you also report on the barrage of law suits that are surely to follow due to the ignorant and stupid actions of Larry Boone Police Chief. I also hope that the community sees that he is removed from office. The stupidity of some administrators cannot be described as American.
So every loud mouth left wing political nut kob can call for violence in the street. Violence against Conservatives. Suppressing free speech from everyone who doesn’t agree with them. But a cop can get fired for having an opinion?
Well the Chief has a pretty big mouth and hates guns. If I, as a white male said this, he would probably fire me too:
“NORFOLK — Young, black men are getting guns easily. Young, black men are using those guns to shoot each other. Young, black men are getting locked up for shooting each other. The city is losing “generations upon generations” of young, black men.
And no one seems to care — at least not enough, Norfolk Police Chief Larry Boone said at a Friday afternoon news conference.”
I’m sure if Lt. Kelly donated money to the George Floyd family or BLM, he might have been promoted. He just doesn’t hold the correct political views and therefore had to be fired. Most police officers are 100% politically opposite to the people at the top, most of whom are political animals.
It appears in the article that the Guardian “outed” a ton of people who donated to Rittenhouse. They received these emails from a criminal hacker group. They could have reported these folks as “Officials or Police” in this town or that, but the Guardian chose to Dox these folks so they would be punished. Hopefully this is civilly actionable, but I doubt it.
Like, always, the Bad Guys; The Political Class and the Media Win and Americans Lose, Nothing to see here, move along and OBEY your masters or else, you will be next.
Blue Dog (he/she/it/idiot/them/turd)
Just wrong. Praying that Jesus sweeps through and protects our Second Amendment rights.
Blue… A weapon of war is a fully automatic machine gun with grenade launcher! Anything else is just a single shot hunting rifle. All the idiots who keep mouthing the words weapon of war are just left wing Kool-Aid drinkers….
Remember, step one for the British after the colonies declared independence was to occupy and disarm us. That was the impetus for our Second Ammendment.
The response to the “weapons of war” argument is that those are specifically the arms the 2A is there to protect.
This communist take over is going to end badly, one way or another!
At first blush, it seems a bit like an overreaction to fire this police officer for a donation to an accused murderer’s legal defense. I’d like to hear more details about what policies he violated that were worth firing him over before asking if this is still a free country.
That being said, Kyle Rittenhouse may have been reacting in self-defense in that exact moment but he was still bussed in from out of state as an armed counter-protestor. I think I remember hearing that he was issued the assault rifle locally. He was underage and out of town and they gave him a weapon of war – what did they expect to happen? Something other than war?
Blue, you “think you heard” and “weapon of war”? Standard BS from the gun grabbing, anti-freedom leftists. Peddle your BS elsewhere.
I’m with you Thoughtful (Me/I)
Blue Dog,
How much do you get paid to peddle your anti 2nd amendment view points. It’s apparent that you are clearly a paid anti gun liberal who wants nothing more than to see the 2nd Amendment completely obliterated. You consistently spew the rhetoric of the left using their terms and lack of understanding. Anyone on here who consistently sees your posts knows that you disagree with everything that this sight and our culture (not yours) is about. I’m sure you agree with open borders, forced vaccinations and everything else opposed to a conservative viewpoint. I would also say that you are probably opposed to the nuclear family and want everyone to be tolerant of you but you yourself are unable to be tolerant towards anyone else or their point of view who disagree with you. I wonder if you even reside here in these United States and if so, why not go somewhere else?
Sincerely,
Your disappointed parents
Well said. In fact, I take offense to blue dog adopting “dog” as part moniker. I like Dogs. On the other hand, blue dog is doing that which he/she/it is paid to do.
As I understand he lives 26 miles away, regardless of “state lines.” And he was not “bussed in from out of state as an armed counter-protestor” but to guard somewhere he worked from the ferals who were destroying Kenosha and going unpunished.
Blue you are a sheep, repeating exactly word for word what the left wing agenda filled media wants you to say. Weapon of war? To even say those words shows that you have no idea what you are talking about and don’t care at all about truth. This kid defended himself period! The Democratic Party is controlled by people with more money then ever foreseen by the founders. Now those wealthy SOBs have taken control of the media and the information that is available to the masses. Our inner cities are ruined, the educational system is outdated and we have cops being fired and attacked for anything they do that offends these left wing dirtbags. Not sure where it’s all going , but this road to socialism and anti truth is not what patriotic Americans want to take while the country transforms into a shit hole.
DELCO, excellent post. I might add that “Blue Dog” might want to change his handle to “Blue Fog”.
It has been documented that since Kyle Rittenhouse at 17 was too young to purchase a firearm, he had an older teen of legal age purchase the rifle for him.
I believe that teen has been charged with some serious ATF violations and with abetting the Rittenhouse killings.