Burlington Troll Factory: VT Police Chief & Next-In-Line Both Off The Job After Burner Accounts Surface
I'll be honest, the only reason I picked this story was because the thought of 'Burlington Troll Factory' in the headline made me laugh for some reason. But I digress.. Here's the rest explaining why Burlington, VT had THREE separate Police Chiefs today:
Via Newsweek:
The chief of police of Vermont's largest city resigned Monday after admitting that he had created a Twitter account to "troll" a self-described left-wing political activist. Just hours later, the city's deputy also admitted to using a fake account on Facebook.
Brandon del Pozo, formerly the police chief of Burlington, Vermont, offered his resignation just after noon Monday after acknowledging he created an anonymous Twitter account to harass Charles Winkleman, a local liberal activist known to criticize del Pozo and the police department.
Monday evening, it also came to light that Burlington's Deputy Police Chief Jan Wright, also had a "secret" social media account. As CBS-affiliate WCAX reported, Wright admitted that she sometimes used a fake Facebook account called "Lori Spicer" to discuss issues pertaining to the police with citizens online.
Wright was originally designated to step up as police chief until the mayor became aware of her "Lori Spicer" account. Now, Deputy Chief Jon Murad, who has said he does not post anonymously to social media, is the acting police chief for the city of Burlington.
That's a couple ah-Spicer burner accounts, my goodness. And that's one less Facebook party I'll be attending this holiday season, thank you very much.
The whole thing is so wacky that it fits more with my favorite fictional Vermont officers than the real ones…
..But as we all know it's not just Vermonters who feel the burn.
The singer Lorde had a burner to review onion rings, Kevin Durant used his to respond to haters, 76ers general manager Bryan Colangelo went at his own players, and now the Burlington Police Department bigwigs clapped back at, uh, ::checks notes:: a one Mr. Charles Winkleman. Big time stuff behind the scenes.
But hey, I'm not here to judge. Happens to the best of us.