A former federal employee in Jacksonville, Florida faces up to five years in prison after she put a printed Confederate battle flag on a black employee’s desk then lied to Department of Homeland Security investigators about it.
Susan R. Thompson, 58, worked at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Office on June 24 – six days after a racially motivated church shooting in South Carolina left nine blacks dead – when she printed out the Confederate battle flag at home and the next day put it on a black colleague’s desk, the Orlando Sentinel reports.
The incident occurred amid a raging national debate about the Confederate battle flag sparked by the Charleston shooter’s penchant for posing with it in Facebook posts.
“Thompson surreptitiously placed the image of the flag on the desk of an African-American woman, with whom Thompson had a contentious working relationship and a history of loud workplace confrontations,” according to a statement by the U.S. District Attorney’s Office.
“After Thompson’s co-worker found the image of the flag on her desk, inspectors from the Federal Protective Service were notified and opened an investigation to determine if there had been a breach of security at the facility, whether the image was intended as a threat of violence, and whether any federal crimes had been committed,” the statement continued.
The Federal Protective Service is a branch of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
“During that investigation, Thompson agreed to be interviewed and lied to inspectors on two separate occasions, denying that she had placed the image of the flag on her co-worker’s desk.”
Thompson eventually fessed up, but remained adamant she’s not racist.
Regardless, she “was permitted to resign” from the Army Corps after an internal investigation and pleaded guilty on Monday to making false statements to a federal officer, a five-year felony, WJCT reports.
Several folks who commented online clearly believe the sentence doesn’t fit the crime.
“Going to jail for a printed image while 1000s of felons are being released?” Joemama2 questioned. “Something has gone horribly wrong with our country.”
“Up to five years in prison for this?” imgramps added. “Sounds a bit harsh.”
“It’s acceptable and encourage for the government to lie to us, but we better not lie to them,” Charles Wynne wrote.
“She pleaded guilty to lying to federal law enforcement. Twice,” Seymore Bunsen posted. “Had she told the truth the worst that probably would have happened is losing her job. … I agree that five years seems a bit harsh …”
Others aren’t buying Thompson’s assertion that her actions were not racially motivated.
“Not racially motivated … right, and I’m Tinker Bell,” Melody Shacter posted to Facebook.
“I love that she said it wasn’t racially motivated. In what MADE UP land would putting a Confederate flag on a Black co-workers desk is that NOT racially motivated?” Vickie Kutscher added. “Pure IGNORANCE if you think anyone is DUMB enough to buy that CRAP!”
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