The chief of police in a small Pennsylvania town is coming under fire for a handful of strongly-worded diatribes he’s uploaded to the Internet — so much so that his pro-gun YouTube rants might get him removed from the job.
Gilberton Borough, PA Police Chief Mark Kessler is opposed to gun control and isn’t too reserved about making that clear. In addition to being the top cop in the small town of around 900, he leads a homegrown militia called Chief Kessler’s Constitution Security Force, initiated the local nullification of national gun laws and regularly weighs in on Second Amendment issues using an array of active social media accounts. Some residents of Gilberton say his online activities are simply over the top, however, and are questioning whether he should stay chief of police.
“Fuck all you libtards out there … yous take it in the ass,” Kessler says in one video uploaded last month to YouTube. “I don’t give a fuck what you say, so you can all go fuck yourselves. Period.”
“They’re at it again. They just don’t know when to quit,” he announces in another clip as he reads a news article to the camera about Secretary of State John Kerry’s endorsement of a United Nations weapons treaty.
“Secretary of State John Kerry, that piece of shit traitor. Who is he to decide what we can and can’t own? And fuck the UN. Who are they to decide what we, the American people, can own?” Kessler asks.
Then, as he stands in the wood screaming at the camera, Kessler calls Kerry a “cocksucker,” rips up the article and opens fire using an automatic weapon for around five seconds.
The video has received over 9,000 views, and a not-quite-sincere “I’m sorry for hurting feelings” follow-up clip — complete with more ammunition and automatic weapons — managed to garner more than 40,000 views in only a few days online.
“I know a lot of people were offended by this video. I find the language myself offensive,” Gilberton Mayor Mary Lou Hennon told WFMZ-TV News.
Eric Boxter, a councilman for the borough, told the network he found the videos “over the top” and “unacceptable.”
That sentiment is even shared by some fellow members of law enforcement, including Dan Duffy, the former chief of police for the nearby city of Scranton, PA.
“This is exactly what a law enforcement officer should not be doing out there publicly, especially identifying himself as a law enforcement officer,” Duffy told The Morning Call. “It’s an embarrassment to us.”
Kessler says others shouldn’t worry about it, though, having told WFMZ, “I wasn’t in uniform. So I was only representing myself.”