NORFOLK, Va. — A former Virginia police officer who was fired after donating to a defense fund for Kyle Rittenhouse wants his job back now that a Wisconsin jury acquitted the young man of murder during protests against police brutality last year.
Norfolk officials fired former police Lt. William Kelly in April for violating policy by using his work email to donate $25 to a Rittenhouse defense fund. But now Kelly wants to be reinstated, news outlets reported.
News organizations including The Virginian-Pilot reported that they had obtained data from a Christian crowdfunding website that was hacked, apparently showing an initially anonymous $25 donation to Rittenhouse’s legal defense fund was linked to Kelly’s work email address.
The donation carried the comment: “God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong,” the newspaper reported.
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The Virginia police office never should have been fired for donating to any fund. That is his legal right to do so.
Too bad there are not some ethical pro bono lawyers to take this on and make sure it never is allowed anywhere else. If the rules prohibit use of office email and that is the only email available, I would suggest that the Police Department set of a kiosk for their employees/.