HERMANN, Mo. (AP) - An eastern Missouri sheriff who displayed disparaging, doctored photos of President Barack Obama and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton at the sheriff’s office has taken them down after a citizen complained.
One fake photo displayed at the Gasconade County sheriff’s office showed the president in mug shot and another purported to show Clinton in handcuffs being taken away by an FBI agent. A third photo shows Obama and Vice President Joe Biden with the caption: “Joe, I am confused. Which bathroom do I use?”
Scott Bringhurst, a Hermann business owner, said he was shocked to see the photos when he went to the sheriff’s office last week to apply for a concealed-carry permit, The St. Louis Post Dispatch reported (https://bit.ly/28NKhBf ).
“The courthouse should be a nonpartisan environment,” Bringhurst said. “That goes without saying. Especially if you’re an employee who draws your paycheck from taxpayers.”
After Bringhurst complained to the local paper, presiding county commissioner Larry Miskel consulted with two other county commissioners and sent Sheriff Randy Esphorst an email asking him to remove the photos.
“It’s a place of business,” Miskel, a Republican, said Tuesday. “I don’t believe when you’re conducting county business, your political views should be known, plain and simple.”
Esphorst, who is also a Republican, said the photos were political humor that he should be allowed to display.
“Political humor has been around since George Washington’s day,” said Esphorst, who isn’t running for re-election this year. “Everybody has their little gripes and complaints. If I listened to and reacted to every one, it would be utter chaos.”
He said he followed the commission’s request because “I’m not going to argue with them. It’s so minute and so ridiculous.”
Bringhurst said he is a political independent who voted for Obama in 2008 and Libertarian Gary Johnson in 2012. He said he plans to vote for a third party candidate this year, but hasn’t decided which one.
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Information from: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, https://www.stltoday.com
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