With a manhunt underway for a suspect involved the murder of an Orlando cop and days after Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy Norman Lewis was killed in a car crash while responding to a manhunt for the suspected cop killer, a man decided to stand in front of the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Department holding a sign. Only, it was not a sign that most people would consider supportive of the cops.
Instead, the sign read “2 cops dead in Orlando. God bless the shooter.”
Deputy Norman reportedly died in a car crash responding to a call about Markeith Loyd, who is accused of murdering Orlando Master Sgt. Debra Clayton in a shootout earlier this week.
Bystanders told a local news outlet they were “shocked” a person would do something like that.
Charlotte County deputies say the man is Ian McGuire and this not the first time he has shown up at the Sheriff’s Department. He even posts videos of the encounters on YouTube, which he calls “First Amendment audits.”
The Sheriff’s deputies told reporters they essentially agree with him that he has a First Amendment right to show up with his sign. They said he eventually left the scene on his own and was not arrested.
Nonetheless, some locals were upset by his actions.
“I think it’s rotten; I think it’s horrible. These cops put their lives on the line every day when they go to work for us,” Sherie Enwright told a reporter.
McGuire does have prior arrests, according to the sheriff’s office. Records obtained by local media show at least five arrests in Charlotte County since 2009, including a weapons related charge in 2012. The final disposition of those cases is unclear.
[image via Charlotte County]
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