A police chief in Arkansas has quit his job after he posted messages on a right-wing social media site that appeared to call on people to do harm to "Marxist" Democrats during the U.S. presidential election, the mayor said.
Marshall mayor Kevin Elliot said he "strongly condemned" the comments made by police chief Lang Holland.
Holland angered local residents and others after calling for violence on social media. He had resigned effective immediately as police director, the mayor said.
According to the mayor, the Marshall community "does not in any way support or condone bullying or threats of violence to anyone of any political persuasion," NBC News quoted him as saying. "We are a welcoming community that's humbly working to build a bright future for all our citizens."
On Parler, Holland posted "Death to all Marxist Democrats." Parler is a social media site with a following from conservatives and is a Twitter-like social media app. "Take no prisoners, leave no survivors!!" Holland said.
Screenshots posted by The Ozarks Coalition, which monitors hate groups in Arkansas, appeared to show Holland calling the CIA and FBI "Marxist" organizations working to overthrow the U.S. "Hang all these Marxist Democrats now," the post showed.
One image that Holland shared showed a group of Democrats, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, wearing prison jumpsuits. He said he prays that all those in the photo "hang on the gallows and are drawn and quartered!!!!", and emphasized that "anything less is not acceptable," he captioned the photo, as reported by CNN.
Efforts to reach the police chief were unsuccessful. A message sent to a phone number listed under his name wasn't immediately responded to.
