Alabama Sheriff’s Departments Posts ‘Thug’ Christmas Tree On Facebook
A Mobile, Alabama sheriff’s department is receiving backlash after posting a “thug” Christmas tree on Facebook.
The offensive tree had mugshots as ornaments. The post was for Mobile County Sheriff’s Department “Thug Thursday” social media campaign, which posts photos of people with outstanding warrants.
The Facebook post was captioned with, “We have decorated our Tree with THUGSHOTS to show how many Thugs we have taken off the streets of Mobile this year! We could not have done it without our faithful followers!”
See the now deleted post below:
Spokeswoman for the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department Lori Myles claimed “the ornaments were photoshopped onto the tree within the social media post, and that there is not an actual tree with those same ornaments on display within the Sheriff’s Department’s administrative offices near downtown Mobile,” according AL.com.
Myles also explained the image by saying in a statement, “It’s a good thing. It’s a good thing in a community that they have taken these career criminals off the streets. We were thanking them and showing the results of Thug Thursday.”
The department alleges they have received death threats after the photo went viral. It does not appear the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department has issued an apology for the offensive image.
The Alabama NAACP called the post “despicable behavior by the Mobile County Sheriff’s Department.”