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A former member of the Hogan administration who was听fired over the weekend听for posting statements and memes on social media that sympathized with the 17-year old indicted for shooting protesters in Kenosha, Wis., says he will be looking into every possible legal remedy following his dismissal.
鈥淚鈥檓 not asking nor do I want my job back, would you?鈥� Arthur (Mac) Love IV said during a press conference outside Lockerman Bundy Elementary School in Baltimore Monday afternoon. 鈥淚 just want my life back 鈥� I鈥檓 an innocent American.鈥�
Love, the former deputy director of the Governor鈥檚 Office of Community Initiatives, had been commenting about memes on Facebook posts, supporting Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager from Illinois who brought a semi-automatic rifle to Kenosha last week and opened fire after scuffling with protesters who were there to demand racial justice.
He was fired Saturday afternoon for his social media comments.
The protesters have been in Kenosha since the police shooting a week ago of Jacob Blake, a Black man.
One of Love鈥檚 Facebook posts includes a photo of a white police officer holding two thumbs up, with the caption, 鈥淒on鈥檛 be a thug if you can鈥檛 take a slug!鈥� Another features a photo of actor Leonardo DiCaprio raising a glass of champagne with the caption, 鈥淲hen you see a skateboard wielding Antifa chickens*** get smoked by an AR toting 17-yr-old.鈥�
Love did not directly answer the question of what he was trying to get across by posting and reposting those memes. There are potential legal ramifications, so Love has been advised to keep his statements to a minimum, said Gary Collins, a friend serving as a spokesman for Love.
鈥淲hat Mr. Love was looking to do is basically express that there should be due process in any and all situations,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淲e live in the United States, and in this country, everyone should get a free shot and a fair shot regardless of what the circumstances or the twisting and turning might be in any given story.鈥�
Love鈥檚 social media posts were not meant to be hateful, but suggests that everyone in the United States, including Rittenhouse, should have due process, Collins added.
鈥淚 stand by the Constitution of the United States of America, and I stand by the rights of due process for all,鈥� Love said.
Love said he was told by his office not to speak with the media and that he was not fired on Saturday. It was not until 8 a.m. on Sunday morning that he was formally told that he had been fired.
The Hogan administration on Saturday afternoon released a statement from Steven J. McAdams, an old friend of Gov. Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. (R) who heads the Governor鈥檚 Office of Community Initiatives, saying Love had been fired.
Love believes he was unfairly and hastily terminated from his job because of something that was 鈥渏ust a tongue in cheek meme,鈥� Collins said. He called Hogan an 鈥渁uthoritarian鈥� and 鈥渄ictator鈥� for not allowing public servants the freedom of speech on their private social media accounts. He also blames today鈥檚 鈥渃ancel culture鈥� for Love鈥檚 termination.
Collins compared Love鈥檚 circumstance to the case of Len Foxwell, the chief of staff to Maryland Comptroller Peter V.R. Franchot (D). Franchot defended Foxwell and refused to fire him after Foxwell听听in April that people who did not follow coronavirus safety measures should be 鈥渓ure[d]鈥� into a 鈥渂ig, big warehouse,鈥� in order to 鈥渂ar the door and then let Darwin work his magic.鈥�
Foxwell鈥檚 post linked to an NPR article about a militia group and conservative elected officials in Idaho who were defying stay-at-home orders in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Several prominent Republicans at the time accused Foxwell of wanting President鈥檚 Trump supporters to die and demanded that Franchot fire him.
鈥淓ither both should go or neither,鈥� Collins said. 鈥淥ne man is left out in the rain, while the other is safe and secure in the halls of government.鈥�
鈥淭here should be some consistency across agencies and departments,鈥� Love said. 鈥淚t shouldn鈥檛 be a question 鈥� if you鈥檙e a Republican, you get fired and if you鈥檙e a Democrat you keep your job, or vice versa,鈥� he said, tearing up. 鈥淭his is my life, or was.鈥�
鈥淚 wish someone would explain to me鈥hy is it OK to call for the death of Marylanders and keep a government job yet calling for someone to get due process in Maryland gets you fired,鈥� he said.
Love鈥檚 supporters at the news conference included individuals of color.
Jovani Patterson, an African American community activist who is the Republican nominee for Baltimore City Council president, defended Love鈥檚 free speech and said he had worked with Love on food distribution efforts in the city.
鈥淔reedom of speech is being dragged through the mud right now,鈥� Patterson said.
Dr. Surinder Singh, a Sikh who had worked with Love to provide healthy food options for children, said Love is 鈥渘ot racist,鈥� but rather a 鈥渄edicated, sincere, hardworking man鈥� who should have been given more time to explain his social media posts before the state officials decided to fire him.
Tim Kingston, a union representative and retired police officer, and Ahmed Nasser, a tax accountant who spoke on behalf of the Pakistani community, defended Love during the news conference.
Michael Feldman, the person who made the original post in which Love commented on multiple memes, including one that suggested protesters were 鈥渢hugs,鈥� called Love鈥檚 defense 鈥渄isingenuous.鈥�
鈥淵ou do have the freedom of speech, but you do not have the freedom of consequences for that speech,鈥� he said in an interview with听Maryland Matters.
Love does not regret what he posted and will be pursuing all legal remedies possible, Collins said.
Love鈥檚 supporters have set up an online fundraising page, launched within hours of his dismissal, seeking 鈥渢o听help support Mr. Love through an emergency defense fund to help relocate, ensure physically protect and help to support him through this challenging time.鈥�
Their goal is to raise $150,000.
The page is hosted at GiveSendGo.com, which bills itself as the 鈥�#1 Free Christian Crowdfunding Site.鈥�
As of 11:30 p.m. Monday, 22 people had donated $1,065.听
Bruce DePuyt contributed to this report.
