'A mistake.' Georgia official apologizes for 'angry' protest comments but won't resign
Longtime Bibb County Commissioner Joe Allen on Thursday apologized for a Facebook comment he posted on a Wisconsin television station’s live stream of scenes there in the wake of violence surrounding George Floyd protests in which he wrote, “It’s now time to SHOOT to KILL them if they continue to destroy.”
Reached by phone, Allen, 70, whose term as District 6 commissioner expires at year’s end, said he was sorry for writing what he described as “an angry, hurtful comment ... and I regret it.”
Allen is not seeking re-election.
“It was not about the people marching, the protesters,” Allen told The Telegraph. “What I said was never against the protesters. ... Anybody can protest, that’s their God-given right.”
As of midday Thursday, more than 1,600 people had signed a change.org petition seeking Allen’s resignation.
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