Tracy Varner lasted less than a day as an officer of the Nelsonville Police Department (NPD). Varner left the department due to community outrage over posts she had made mocking Jacob Blake, the recent victim of a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
On September 4, NPD posted a photo on Facebook of Varner being sworn in. Noah Smith1 saw the photo and said his “jaw dropped.” Smith had just recently seen Varner make a post that disturbed him. The post read: “Kamala Harris says ‘the nation has been pierced over Jacob Blake shooting’!….. Only thing I’m aware of being pierced is Jacob Blake with lead. #goodshooting”
While Varner deleted the post and deactivated her Facebook account for a period of time afterward, Smith had taken a screenshot of the post as soon as he saw it. Smith was scared of repercussions, but he states, “I knew that I had to say something… I’m not going to sit back and watch that happen.”
Smith reached out to Lori Crook, a member of Athens County Copwatch, which according to its Facebook page is a “local group of researchers and activists collecting, analyzing, and sharing information related to policing in Athens County Ohio.” The group shared the screenshot of Tracy’s post along with NPD’s photo of Tracy’s swearing in ceremony.
Almost immediately, outraged community members began sharing the photos and contacting city and police department officials. Crook states that Copwatch’s post received tens of thousands of views on both Twitter and Facebook.
At 11:38 PM that same night, Nelsonville Chief of Police, Scott Fitch, and City Manager, Scott Frank, posted the following statement on Facebook about the situation (though not naming the officer as Varner):
Earlier this evening an insensitive post on social media by a recently hired police officer was brought to our attention. The Nelsonville City Manager, Scott Frank and I collectively decided that it was in the best interest of the Nelsonville Police Department and the City of Nelsonville to part ways with the officer in question. The Facebook post does not represent the views or values of the Nelsonville Police Department or the City of Nelsonville.
We are working hard to give the residents of Nelsonville a police department that upholds the standards of the community and equally represents everyone. We would like to apologize to anyone that was negatively affected by this incident. In moving forward, we want everyone to know that the Nelsonville Police Department will not tolerate insensitive behavior by any of its employees.
An hour later, the post was edited to say “to part ways by the officer in question resigning from the department.” There remain questions regarding whether Varner’s resignation was voluntary, but a resignation rather than a termination will make it easier for Varner to find another job in law enforcement.
Varner is not the first officer to lose their job with NPD over racist comments. In January 2019, Josh Braglin was allowed to resign after he contested his firing over racist comments allegedly made online and to other officers. In Braglin’s case, the department began investigating him in November 2017, and he was placed on paid administrative leave on April 3, 2018 and then on unpaid leave on April 26, 2018.
Crook and Smith believe that there are several reasons that Varner’s resignation occurred so swiftly while Braglin’s took over a year from the time that city officials became aware of his conduct. First, Police Chief Scott Fitch and City Manager Scott Frank are both new in their positions, and Crook and Smith believe that they are unwilling to put up with unethical conduct from officers the way that previous city and police officials did. Second, Varner had only just begun her position, while Braglin had been with the force for several years.
Crook also thinks that nationwide political activism against racism contributed to the different response by NPD. “September 2020 is very very different than a couple years ago in terms of people’s awareness of racist discrimination by police,” Crook said.
Crook and Smith both emphasized that the awareness protests have brought to racist police violence has affected broad layers of people, including people who support Donald Trump and those who believe that strong police forces are necessary.
“People were very quick to share, to affirm that this person should not be a police officer, even if they don’t agree 100% with people involved in protests,” noted Crook. A brief look at the people who spoke out against Varner on social media confirmed that while many featured “Black Lives Matter” prominently in their profiles, others had posted support for Trump in the past.
Varner’s swift departure from NPD shows the powerful effects of the Black Lives Matter movement on local opinion. At the same time, it shows the importance of having local organizations in addition to one-off protests.
Crook says Smith reached out to her because he knew of Crook’s work with the group Sunshine on Nelsonville, which called for transparency in city government and livestreamed city council meetings on Facebook. Crook emphasized the importance of trust in community organizing. Smith knew that Crook and Athens County Copwatch would never divulge his identity, which is important in a small town where citizens are afraid of retaliation by law enforcement.
Additionally, Athens County Copwatch already had an audience on social media because of their ongoing research and organizing work, so they were able to quickly get the word out about Varner’s comments.
Crook and Smith both shared that corruption, racism, and abuses of power are not new in Nelsonville or in Athens. In Nelsonville, Smith states “none of the corruption… none of this stuff is a secret. It’s right in front of anyone’s face and nobody’s done nothing.” As an example of police violence that has continued to go unaddressed, Crook cites Ethan Doerr, an Athens Police Officer who was involved in the violent arrest of Ty Bealer and whose record Copwatch has recently exposed.
However, Crook and Smith believe that the response to Varner’s comments shows that public pressure is powerful. They are hopeful that more people will speak out in the future, and that Athens County Copwatch can provide a platform for this work.
“I hope that Athens leadership will take very careful note of what just went down and how much we are expecting them to respond to community pressure,” Crook said. “They cannot ignore it. We will not let them ignore it.”
Katherine K.
Katherine K. is a housing justice activist in Athens County.