(VitalNews.org) – A former US House representative is joining clergy to send tens of thousands of signatures to a Georgia city asking the city to apologize to a cop who quit the force after saying his religious beliefs were put on trial at his job.
Jody Hice, a Republican who formerly served in the US House representing Georgia, joined the Family Research Council and other clergies to deliver the petition to the city of Port Wentworth.
They’re asking the city to say it is sorry to former city cop Jacob Kersey, 20, who left his job after, he said, he felt his superiors wrongly criticized his private religious beliefs. Kersey explained that he was not fired in January but that he quit after the city put him on administrative leave to examine his Facebook posts.
The post by Kersey that caught the city’s attention was on the topic of marriage. In it, Kersey wrote, “God designed marriage,” and said God defined marriage as between a man and a woman and that there is “no such thing” as homosexual marriage.
Kersey’s bosses asked him to remove the post from his personal Facebook account. He refused.
The former cop said cases like his were increasing and that people and congregations needed to be on guard against incursions into religious freedom.
When he quit the police force in January, Kersey’s lawyers sent a letter to Port Wentworth. They say the petition about to be delivered has more than 30,000 signatures.
Kersey’s situation gathered national media attention in January. At the same time, Port Wentworth’s police chief, Matthew W. Libby, announced that he was retiring. He gave no reasons for the timing of his retirement.
While Kersey and his attorneys hope the city will deliver a public apology, Kersey may take further legal action. One of his attorneys, Christine Pratt, said: “all options are on the table.” Pratt claims the city “rode roughshod” over Kersey’s Constitutional rights.
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