Who is Brian Gossert? Cop says Democrats should ‘get f****d’ while live-streaming rant to defend Confederate flag
A Pennsylvania police officer has been suspended after he recorded a live TikTok video attacking Democrats and the LGBTQ+ community while defending the Confederacy, reports said on Thursday, April 1. The officer was in his uniform and on duty in his patrol car when recording the video.
Officer Brian Gossert from Denver, Pennsylvania, was suspended by Mansfield Police Department in Tioga County after his live streamed rant went viral, during which he said that the Confederate flag was not racist, slavery "has been over 200 years ago", and Democrats should "get f****d" and "get the s**t kicked out of them." The shocking video, where the cop also appears to arrest someone, was obtained by MyTwinTiers.com.
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Who is Brian Gossert?
Brian Gossert hails from Denver, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, according to Tioga Publishing. He is the son of Vance W Gossert and Dawn Eriks and has two siblings namely Brent and Brooke, according to L and L Family Tree. Conan Daily reported that in 2009, he was a private in Fort Benning, Georgia, according to his Facebook profile which isn't available at the moment.
In 2012, he graduated from Mansfield University Police Academy in Mansfield, Tioga County, Pennsylvania. He was hired as an “as needed” police officer for the Mansfield Police Department in August 2019, according to borough council meeting minutes, reports say. Councilmember Robert Fitzgerald made a motion to recommend his hiring as a full-time police officer, which was approved, during the regular meeting of the Mansfield Borough Council on September 9, 2020.
The officer was in full uniform during the video and at one point has a man in the back of his patrol car while filming.https://t.co/a3QZbnuGEk
— WTAJ News (@WTAJnews) March 31, 2021
'I don’t understand how (the Confederate flag) is racist'
In the viral video, WETM-TV reported that Gossert agreed that the live stream could cost him his job, but that he vowed to have his union fight any attempts of his removal from the police force. "I don’t understand how (the Confederate flag) is racist, it represents the South," Gossert said in the video. "Just like the Union flag represents the North. No one says that the union flag is racist. So why are we saying the Confederate flag is racist?” he adds.
“Well they fought against the North. So yeah, technically they fought for slavery, I guess you could say, but again, that’s been over 200 years ago, I think it’s time that people just like, get the f**k over themselves. Because, if, if that’s true. If the symbolism behind that flag is still that hurtful now, then we should still hate the south. So, why hate them for something that no one is alive from anymore," he added.
Gossert went on to attack Democrats and alleged that they had begun the notorious Ku Klux Klan. "You want to know who started the KKK, the f*****g Democrats, probably the same party that you agree with. So again, get f****d like read a f*****g history book. Everyone wants to call cops racist but yeah you know who starts racism, Democrats," the policeman said. The KKK, in truth, was founded by a group of former Confederate soldiers in 1866, though many of its members were Democrats who supported slavery and the Confederacy.
“It’s okay we can justify our flag, because it’s not as bad as the flag next to us," he said. “They need to get the s**t kicked out of them.” Gossert is then seen with a man in the backseat of his police vehicle, saying: "Oh, fun stuff. This is why you don’t do meth," and ending the live stream.
The Mansfield Borough Council took to the police department's Facebook page to release a statement regarding the issue on Wednesday. "The Mansfield Borough Council is aware that a borough police officer posted offensive videos on a social media platform which were recorded and posted while he was on duty. The Borough Council is appalled and outraged by this conduct. The officer has been suspended and an investigation is proceeding. The views expressed in these videos do not reflect the values of the Borough government," the statement read.