SHEILA A. MATHEWS :::
Two Spalding County jailers have been terminated Monday when Sheriff Darrell Dix became aware of comments the pair allegedly posted online on social media and gaming sites.
According to Dix, a law enforcement source reported Howard Costner and Jesse Jones alleged comments.
“Based on information we found out this morning, their services were no longer needed,” said Dix, who described the statements as “inflammatory.”
Dix denied receiving information from Antifa.
“I’ve seen some of them and we actually looked at some of their stuff on social media and confirmed that some of the comments credited to them were accurate, and I acted on it,” Dix said.
Asked if a pre-employment social media background check is routine practice, Dix stated, “We do, but some of these comments come from places we’d never heard of – some of the gaming sites and other places. We check basic stuff just like all law enforcement agencies do.”
He confirmed Costner had been the subject of a prior complaint.
“We had received a complaint about Costner in the past – about some of the flags that are depicted in some of his pictures that are in his room – and from our research, none of those are affiliated with Nazi Germany or Nazis. We cannot find anything that affiliated them with Nazi Germany or Nazis. They were just old German flags,” Dix said.
He stressed that Costner and Jones’ “poor choices” should not reflect poorly upon other Spalding County Sheriff’s Office personnel.
Costner had been employed by the SCSO for approximately 11 months, and Jones had served approximately ten months.