19-year-old, Jacob Kersey, from Georgia joined the Port Wentworth police department in May 2022 and graduated from the academy last September. After spending less than a year in the force, he has now resigned from his job following a Facebook post he made while off duty, which authorities deemed as offensive and he was equated to being a racist.
The teenager finally speaks out in an interview with CBN, explaining the ordeal he had been through for his Facebook post.
On January, 2nd, Kersey made a Facebook post while he was off duty. The post simply stated that God created marriage and marriage refers to Christ and the church and that’s why there’s no such thing as homosexual marriage. He said that the sentiment was a widely held Christian belief and one which is seen evidently throughout the scripture.
On the following day, he was called up by his patrol supervisor informing him that someone had complained about his Facebook post and asked him to remove it. However, Kersey honored God and stood firm to his belief, he promptly told his supervisor that he would not be able to remove it as it was the ‘truth’.
He was told that his Facebook post could lead to his termination from his job and was advised that he should have a clear understanding on the separation of the Church and the State, which was shocking to him, considering the fact that the authorities had completely misunderstood the concept.
“That’s a terrible misunderstanding of what separation of truth and state means,” he said. “It wasn’t like I was on a traffic stop … I wasn’t handing out Gospel tracks. This was when I was off-duty on my Facebook page.”
The officer was informed by his lieutenant that the department was not willing to face any liability if, in the future, a use-of-force situation unfolded between him and any member of the LGBTQ community. Stressing his professionalism and strict adherence to the rules as a public servant, Kersey said that the lieutenant’s statements were surprisingly shocking. He pointed out that the authorities were specifically bent on pointing out the situation only as an issue related to LGBTQ community.
“I believe that you know being drunk is a sin. I believe fornication and adultery are a sin but I don’t go out and target people who are living sinful lifestyles who are not saved just because I’m a Christian and I have a badge” he said.
He also added that, doing so would be wrong and that it was not what Christ has called us to do but at the same time He has not called us to be silent about the truth of scripture.
Kersey received a call from his superior, who told him to surrender all items belonging to the city. He thought he had been fired and proceeded to turn in everything the next day.
During a meeting with the police chief, Kersey was shocked to hear that his previous post had been compared to using the N-word. The chief allegedly labeled him as the worst type of racist, solely due to his belief in God’s design for marriage.
Despite the shock, Kersey knew that he had to take a stand for his faith. He felt that the Holy Spirit was guiding him, even though he loved being a law enforcement officer. Kersey was determined to fight for what he believed in and not let his passion for law enforcement be taken away from him.
Kersey was initially put on administrative leave while authorities investigated his podcasts and social media posts for any potential violations of department policy, but they couldn’t find anything. He was informed that he could quote scriptures as they are but would not be allowed to interpret them which would offend others and that it was something he could be fired for.
Although he was not fired, considering the lack of trust displayed by the authorities, Kersey decided to resign. “I just looked at the whole situation and said, ‘Law enforcement is a dangerous job to begin. My command staff has equated me to the most horrific kind of racist. They’re telling me that they’re going to fire me if I don’t abide by this new policy. If I express my Christian beliefs again, they’re going to fire me,’” he said.
Kersey continued, “I just thought, with the nature of the job, it’s not fair to … go back … when my command staff doesn’t have my back.”
Ketsey expressed his concern over the general belief that Christians can’t be trusted to really have any job and that it’s absolutely absurd. He fears that Christians would be persecuted more and more in the future for their beliefs. However, he also has some step of actions that he thinks Christians could take up in this fight;
“So I think the first thing is really standing up and being a good steward for the things that God has given us in this country and that is the first amendment but the second thing is to encourage believers. I really want to encourage every believer first and foremost to pray without ceasing you know before we stand up for scripture.”, Kersey said.
“We have to be motivated by love for the souls of mankind and God’s design for creation and his comprehensive rule over all and that starts I think with standing up for Biblical truths”, he added.
