Employees from a Southern California sheriff's and district attorney's office have been arrested for vandalizing a Black Lives Matter sign, reports Thousand Oaks Acorn.
The “BLM” sign was hung up outside a home in Thousand Oaks, Calif., by a 19-year-old. Darrin Stone, 60, an employee of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office since 2005, was caught on video using a knife to slice the sign on two separate occasions. Craig Anderson, 59, a non-sworn investigative assistant at the Ventura County district attorney’s office, “cut the sign down and was going to remove it from the area when he noticed the camera and left the sign at the scene,” police said.
Both have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of both criminal and administrative investigations.
“I’m deeply disappointed that one of our employees involved himself in this type of illegal activity, especially when this is an infringement on someone’s First Amendment right to freedom of speech,” Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub said in a statement. “We will not tolerate unlawful or unethical behavior by anyone employed by our agency. We hold our employees to the highest standards, and there will be consequences for this.”
Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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