Georgia police veteran calls for hanging of black convicts in brutal murder of 87-year-old in Facebook post
ROSSVILLE, GEORGIA: After facing backlash over a Facebook post which called for the hanging of five black convicts in a 2016 murder, a northwest Georgia part-time police officer was fired on Thursday, June 18.
The announcement that Robert “Skipper” Dunn Jr. was relieved of his duties was made by the Rossville Police Department, following the completion of an internal investigation into his social media activity about the home invasion and murder of Dorothy “Dot” Dow, 87 in Meriwether County. Dunn “is no longer employed by the City of Rossville in any position," Captain Dave Scroggins confirmed to AJC.
Dow was brutally beaten and burned to death inside her home. Five assailants broke the victim's arms, badly mutilated her face before pouring flammable liquid on her and lighting her on fire. While four of the attackers were sentenced to life in prison -- two of them without the possibility of parole — the fifth received a seven-year sentence. “I think a hanging is in order,” Dun wrote on Monday, June 15, in a since-deleted Facebook post in reference to the murder. He also shared the mugshots of the four assailants.
Before being sacked by his department, Dunn told WTVC that this was a sad way for his police career to come to an end. He did not agree with the decision by his superiors as he said that he would have suggested the hanging of the culprits irrespective of their race.
“It is important that everyone understand Officer Dunn certainly enjoys the First Amendment right to post his opinions,” the police department said in a Facebook post. “However, when those posts or opinions detract from his ability to effectively serve the community, it is in the best interest of the community that he no longer be assigned those duties.”
Dunn has served in the force for 40 years, according to Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council records. In 1981, he started working for the LaFayette Police Department, according to records. Previously, he has also worked with Dalton police in the late 1980s before transferring back to LaFayette. There he retired in December 2017. After just a month, he began to work as a part-time officer in Rossville. In the past three years, he also served as the school resource officer at LaFayette High School. He was a POST-certified instructor in general law enforcement, firearms and defensive tactics.
Prior to the recent instance, the only disciplinary action faced by Dunn was while he was in LaFayette police in 2014. It was a demotion from lieutenant to peace officer. The reason for his demotion is not known.
Dunn's firing comes after the death of an African-American man, Rashard Brooks, at the hands of the police in Atlanta, Georgia, launched massive protests across the state. Brooks was allegedly shot dead by officer Garrett Rolfe in a parking lot at a Wendy’s outlet on Friday, June 12, night. It was reported by the investigators that Brooks had a tiff with Rolfe and another officer, Devin Brosnan, before he took one of their tasers and fled while pointing it at Rolfe. The latter then shot back at Brooks with his sidearm, killing him. While Rolfe was dismissed from the force the next day, June 13, Brosnan was placed on administrative leave pending an internal probe. Like the Floyd case, a video of Brooks’ killing also surfaced.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, which was probing the shooting, said the confrontation between Brooks and the police officers started after the cops responded to a complaint that a man was sleeping in a car that was blocking the restaurant’s approach lane. The bureau said Brooks failed a sobriety test and then took on the officers as they tried to arrest him. The black man was a father of four and celebrated one of his kids’ eighth birthday before meeting his end.