This petition has been generated after direct grievances were filed with the Gunnison County Sheriff's office. Due to their lack of action on this matter, we have started this petition to gather local signatures that can be taken to the Colorado Attorney General, so that we can request further investigation.
So what happened?
On July 18th and 19th, Gunnison County Deputy Stephen Liest posted disturbing comments on Facebook that amount to direct threats against our community members should they be protesting and he come across them while he was at work. He did so under the Facebook account name Scooba Steve. The Gunnison County Sheriff's Office confirmed it was their Deputy's account in their statement to the public regarding this matter. Photos will be attached to this petition. He has also posted disparaging remarks in the past against the LBGTQ community in the form of a profile photo mocking homosexual identity. This behavior cannot be tolerated from those in law enforcement who are charged with protecting ALL RESIDENTS regardless of their opinions and decisions to engage in peaceful protest, or their sexual identity.
What was the response of the Gunnison County Sheriff when presented with this information?
On Monday, July 20th, the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office released a statement saying that they were "investigating" the incident and that the views of the posts did not represent the department. They confirmed within their own statement that it was in fact the Deputy's Facebook account. They also stated that it was their belief that this Deputy's account was hacked, due to multiple secondary friend requests. Anyone who uses Facebook would know that makes absolutely no sense. Everyone receives friend requests from strangers, but that does not mean you were hacked, or that by receiving multiple friend requests from random accounts that you are somehow prone to hacking.
What evidence has the Gunnison County Sheriff provided to the residents it is charged with protecting and serving?
As of writing this on Tuesday, July 21st, the Gunnison County Sherif's Office has not provided any evidence to support that this account was hacked. It is quite easy to know if you are hacked and Facebook provides a couple of different ways to access such evidence. First, Facebook automatically sends notifications to your email when your account information is used to login from a different device or IP address. So if this account was hacked, we should be given those emails which the Deputy would have received sometime before Saturday, July 18th. Second, you can go into your Facebook settings and determine when and where your account information was last used. It would be very simple for the said Deputy to login and screenshot information which could indicate where this hacking they claim actually occurred and from what type of device. We welcome evidence from the Gunnison County Sheriff's department. We anticipate their next move will be to say that "How can you prove it was his account?" as the Sheriff's secretary indicated as much on the phone when I called to ask if the Sheriff had any new evidence to present to me on Tuesday, July 21st. Our response is that the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office already proved as much in the statement they publicly released. According to their statement, "Initial information indicates that the Deputies Facebook account has been hacked...". So it must be known to the Sheriff that the account Scooba Steve does in fact belong to Stephen Liest or if not Stephen, then another Deputy on his force.
Why is this important?
What is the appropriate action that needs to be taken?
Simple. This officer needs to be fired. He should not have a gun or be charged with protecting any of our residents because he has demonstrated troubling bias and opinions that are not in line with those who serve in law enforcement. Additionally, it would be nice to see the Gunnison County Sheriff's Office provide some training on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, and remind their officers that every American is granted the right to peacefully protest without fear of reprisal.
This petition will gather signatures for the next month and be passed along to the Colorado State Attorney General if Sheriff Gallowich does not take this seriously enough to remove the officer on his own.
