Last Friday Paul Urhahn, a deputy in Houston County Sheriff’s Office, was responding to a post on a local TV station’s page about the sentencing of Ahmaud Arbery’s convicted murderers, and wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post, “That criminal Arbery still got the death penalty though.”
Although the comment was deleted, modern day times and screenshots ensured that Urhahn’s post will live on, and the repercussions were immediate.
Houston County’s NAACP chapter president Jonathan Johnson said, “If these allegations are found to be true, I agree that he should be removed from office.”
Urhahn’s job with the department is in fact in jeopardy as Sheriff Cullen Talton issued a letter to the deputy “notifying him that he was suspended without pay pending termination.” The letter also stated, “Conduct unbecoming an officer shall include that conduct … which has a tendency to destroy public respect for employees and confidence in the department.”
According to local news affiliate, Talton reached this decision after finding violations of the office’s standard operating procedures for conduct, including that “an officer must at all times, on and off duty, conduct him/herself in a manner which does not bring discredit to the department or county.”
Urhahn may try and preserve his job, and he has 10 days from the date he received the letter to ask for an appeal of his firing. If he chooses not to file an appeal, the 20-year department veteran will be terminated at the close of business on Thursday, January 20.