A young Georgia cop who claims he felt forced to resign his position after being reprimanded for publishing a Facebook post about the Bible and gay marriage is taking action.
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Jacob Kersey, 19, was a police officer in Port Wentworth, Georgia, for less than a year, when he found himself in the crosshairs of controversy last month.
He recently spoke with CBN’s Faithwire alongside his attorney Christine Pratt of First Liberty Institute to recount what happened and to explain the legal remedies they are taking in response to his departure.
“We’re hoping that the police department, first of all, issues a public apology,” Pratt said. “They’ve rode roughshod over Jacob’s constitutional rights, and we would like to see them retract what they said — that they would instead issue a policy statement showing that they understand what the Constitution requires of them.”
For now, though, Pratt said “all options are on the table” if the police department doesn’t respond favorably to their requests.
Watch Kersey and Pratt discuss the case:
Kersey, who said he loved being a cop, hopes Port Wentworth officials “make the right decision.” If he’s welcomed back to his job, he said he’ll have to take it to God and weigh all the options.
“I have to pray about it and see what doors open and see where God leads me,” he said. “At the end of the day, I hope that they make the right decision … to ensure that they protect the rights of the other officers that still work there.”
Kersey said people have been blown away to hear what unfolded last month and admitted he, too, has been in shock. But he said these sorts of scenarios have long been warned about.
“When people hear this story, they’re just, like, ‘Wow.’ They’re blown away that this is actually occurring in this country,” he said. “[People have been] sounding the alarm for years that this is coming and it’s here. It happened to me.”
Kersey’s hoping to prevent such a scenario from ever happening again, and plans to continue sharing his story to raise awareness.
As CBN’s Faithwire previously reported, the former cop joined the Port Wentworth police force in May 2022 and graduated from the academy last September.
Months later — despite receiving what he said were highly favorable on-the-job reviews — he vacated the position with the Port Wentworth Police Department he worked so diligently to secure.
“On Jan. 2, I made a Facebook post while I was off-duty about God’s design for marriage,” Kersey said in an earlier interview. “And the post simply stated that God created marriage, marriage refers to Christ in the church, and that’s why there’s no such thing as homosexual marriage.”
The former officer said this sentiment is a “deeply held Christian belief” and one seen throughout the entirety of the Bible. But despite purportedly posting on his own time, he said his direct patrol supervisor contacted him Jan. 3 and informed him someone had complained about his Facebook post.
“He stated that someone had complained, that I would need to remove the post,” Kersey said. “And I stated, ‘Well, that’s a deeply held Christian belief of mine. I won’t be able to remove it.’”
The ex-cop said he was then told the situation could lead to his termination. Kersey also claims he was advised to remember the “separation of church and state” — something that stunned him.
He eventually met with the police chief and was purportedly told his original post was likened to saying the N-word, something Kersey found deeply alarming.
“He equates me to the most horrific kind of racist, simply because I have a belief in God’s design for marriage,” he said, noting the entire situation left him in “complete disbelief.” “I knew immediately that I needed to take a stand for God’s Word. I believe that was the Holy Spirit, because I loved law enforcement, and I love law enforcement.”
Read more of the story here.
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