Virginia sheriff’s deputy is fired for making 'disturbing comments' on Parler that called for a 'violent action' against the left and included threats to 'kill anyone who tried to vaccinate his children or make him wear a mask'
A Virginia sheriff's deputy has been fired after he called for 'violent revolutionary action' and said he was 'ready to kill' anyone who tried to vaccinate his children or make him wear a mask in posts on the conservative social media platform Parler.
Aaron Hoffman, who was a member of the Prince William County Sheriff's Office , was terminated on December 26 after officials were notified about a series of 'disturbing comments' made on his Parler profile, 'WeThePeopleWarrior'.
Hoffman reportedly called on his followers to find the homes of politicians and 'liberal' judges, and 'remove them from their sanctuary' with force.
'Take back your State capitals,' one of the posts urged. 'Find the homes of every Governor, mayor, attorney general, liberal judge, senator, congressman and every major media/social media CEO...find them, remove them from their sanctuary.
'Bring the nightmare where they lay their heads and kiss their loved ones. Show them they are NOT untouchable.'
Another post on Hoffman's account included a threat to kill anyone who attempts to vaccinate his children against COVID-19 without his consent.
'Not a threat, but a promise,' the post chillingly reads.
Hoffman has admitted the account belongs to him but claims he was recently hacked and didn't author any of the posts that led to his firing.
PWCSO, meanwhile, say there is no evidence to prove Hoffman's account was ever compromised.
Aaron Hoffman, who was a member of the Prince William County Sheriff's Office , was terminated on December 26
His firing came after a journalist uncovered a series of 'disturbing posts' on his account, on the right-wing social media app Parler
In one post, the account belonging to Hoffman called for 'violent revolutionary action'
Hoffman was first identified as the author behind the posts by journalist Molly Conger, who shared screenshots of the officer's Parler account to Twitter.
Other messages included seeming death threats against Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and former President Barack Obama.
In one such post, Hoffman's account was seen replying to an article calling for Justice Roberts to be fired from the Supreme Court bench.
After one user pointed out that Roberts has a lifetime appointment, Hoffman's account replied: 'Sounds like his life needs to be shortened.'
Hoffman's Parler account was set up on November 9. In an post authored two days before his dismissal, Hoffman appeared to refer to those who wear face masks in public as 'mentally ill', whom he has to stop himself from 'murdering'.
'I think God has been looking out for me because I couldn't handle someone like this in my face without becoming insanely violent,' he responded to one post.
'No one seems bold enough to confront me about not wearing a mask...I guess it's God keeping me from murdering the mentally ill.'
In another screen grab uploaded by Conger, Hoffman is apparently seen sharing images of his extensive firearms arsenal, including multiple rifles, handguns, and two tactical vests - including one with 'Sheriff' written across the front.
Other messages included seeming death threats against Supreme Court Justice John Roberts and to former President Barack Obama
Hoffman's Parler account was set up on November 9. In an post authored two days before his dismissal, Hoffman appeared to refer to those who wear face masks in public as the 'mentally ill', whom he has to stop himself from 'murdering'
Hoffman is seen sharing images of his extensive firearms arsenal, including multiple rifles, handguns, and two tactical vests - including one with 'Sheriff' written across it.
Hoffman also appeared to suggest he was willing to ignore orders from superiors when the time comes to fight alongside the Proud Boys in the 'inevitable war' against the government.
'Some of will keep our badge on and enforce the constitution upon those who attack "We The People", Hoffman wrote in an exchange with notorious Proud Boys member Jeremy Berino.
'My pledge was before God and to the People...not a Governor, Mayor, County, Executive or any other commie that thinks rule over the People,' he continued.
Hoffman, a 15-year veteran, was fired from the PWCSO on December 26 following an internal investigation. Sheriff Glendel Hill was reportedly notified of Hoffman's 'disturbing posts' a day earlier, on Christmas morning.
Hoffman has since admitted that he is the owner of the WeThePeopleWarrior account, however denies authoring the posts in question, claiming he was hacked.
Calling the situation a 'giant nightmare' to Fox 5, Hoffman said: 'No, I did not make the post. That was my Parler account from what I’ve been shown so far.
'I saw some weird irregularities going on top of some of my e-mail accounts started going haywire with tons of spam and what not so I started deleting everything, trying to figure out where it was coming from then got called into the Sheriff’s office with we got an issue.'
Hoffman said he 'totally' understands Sheriff Hill's decision to fire him because 'it does look bad'.
He continued: 'I do not in any way condone violence towards elected officials. I’ve been a public servant for 15 years and I’ve taken that very seriously.
'I am not part of any groups, militias, any extremist, I don’t go to rallies.'
He later told the Washington Post: 'I do understand the community’s concern,' in reference to the backlash.
'I’ve been a public servant for over 15 years, and I take that very seriously. I am in no way a threat to the public. This disturbs me as well.'
Hoffman has since admitted that he is the owner of the WeThePeopleWarrior account, however denies authoring the indicting posts on the account, claiming he was hacked
Hoffman also appeared to suggest he was willing to ignore orders from superiors when the time comes to fight alongside the Proud Boys in the 'inevitable war' against the government in an exchange with notorious member of the far-right group, Jeremy Berino
Hoffman's account made additional calls to find the homes of politicians and 'liberal' judges, and 'remove them from their sanctuary'
Sheriff Hill, meanwhile, said he found Hoffman's alleged posts to be 'very despicable and that's why I took the action that I took. I certainly don't approve of that, and of course, it's against our policy.'
The sheriff’s office issued a statement via Facebook on Saturday, saying it had been 'notified about disturbing comments being made on several social media outlets by a deputy sheriff.'
Following an internal affairs investigation, the 'deputy has been terminated from employment with our office,' the statement said. The office thanked the public for 'bringing this to our attention.'
The Prince William County Sheriff's Office has not yet responded to a DailyMail.com request for comment regarding Hoffman's denials over authoring the posts that led to his firing.
Sheriff Hill told Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, who represents parts of Prince William County, the hacking 'claim from the deputy came up during the internal investigation but Sheriff Hill determined there was no evidence to support it.'
Conger's investigation into Hoffman's page began with a reverse image search of WeThePeopleWarrior's unique profile picture, which was found to belong to Grant Tucker, Hoffman's stage name
He has been performing in Virginia for several years and even posted original music on SoundCloud, YouTube and ReverbNation
Conger's investigation into Hoffman's page began with a reverse image search of WeThePeopleWarrior's unique profile picture.
The image, which depicts a black cartoon sheep holding a machine gun, appeared to have been commissioned from an artist online two weeks ago by a 'Grant Tucker'.
Grant Tucker is a stage name used by Hoffman as part of his aspiring country music career. Images on a fan page for the artist showed Hoffman posing with guitars, in addition to a selfie showing him in full police uniform, with his nametag visible which reads 'Hoffman'.
He has been performing in Virginia for several years and even posted original music on SoundCloud, YouTube and ReverbNation.
Prior to his firing, posts to Hoffman's recently deleted LinkedIn page showed that he was seeking a change of career.
'Let me know if you have any input for someone that has been in law enforcement for 14 years and is ready to move up where there’s growth potential and monetary compensation for effort,' one post read.