Prosecutor Takes Heat After 'Incendiary' Facebook Post on Baltimore Riots

An assistant prosector in Wayne County took heat for this Facebook post, which has since been deleted. (Screenshot: WJBK-TV)

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An assistant Wayne County prosecutor has resigned over controversial posts on her Facebook page suggesting that rioters who threw bricks and destroyed property in Baltimore, MD, this week should be shot.

Teana Walsh’s 10:33 p.m. post on Monday has since been deleted, but before it was, a local attorney captured a screenshot and sent it to WJBK-TV. It read:

“So I am watching the news in Baltimore and see large swarms of people throwing bricks, etc at police who are fleeing from their assaults ... 15 in the hospital already. Solution. Simple. Shoot em. Period. End of discussion. I don’t care what causes the protestors [sic] to turn violent...what the “they did it because” reason is...no way is this acceptable. Flipping disgusting.”

The violence in Baltimore began hours after the funeral for Freddie Gray, who died of a spinal injury while in police custody. Today, officers involved in the case were charged – one with second-degree murder, four with involuntary manslaughter and two with second-degree assault. Read more about that on North Baltimore Patch.

In a statement, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said the post was out of character.

“APA Teana Walsh is known for her great work ethic and her compassion for victims of crime and their families. Her post was up on line briefly and she immediately took it down.

The post was completely out of character for her and certainly does not reflect the person that we know.”

But local defense attorneys told WJBK Walsh’s comment was reckless.

“To put something out there that was so incendiary shows disrespect to the community you are trying to serve and the people you are serving,” defense attorney Lillian Diallo said, calling the post “repugnant.”

“You can’t do that as a prosecutor,” she said.

Another attorney, Cliff Woodards, said he was “appalled, stunned, shocked and outraged.”

Walsh’s resignation came after the Progress Michigan political group called the comments “irresponsible” and asked for a thorough investigation by Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy’s office.

“These remarks are particularly dangerous and irresponsible in light of protests taking place right now in Detroit in the wake of yet another shooting death of a young black man by law enforcement,” Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, said in a statement. “Kym Worthy must conduct a thorough review of Walsh’s conduct as a prosecutor and should lead a discussion on the issues of police violence in Detroit. For an assistant county prosecutor to call for the summary execution of disenfranchised and angered citizens shows she has little regard for justice or due process.”

Progress Michigan referenced the shooting of 20-year-old Terrance Kellom in its statement. He was shot by an Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officer during a federal raid on Monday.