Recently, Maine Capitol Police Chief Russell Gauvin was placed on leave, pending review, for some social media posts he made on his own time. Those comments were not work-related but were personal opinion and didn’t violate state policy. Chief Gauvin has since apologized for and removed those comments.
This was spearheaded by outside groups who brought the posts to the attention of the Democratic-controlled Maine Legislature and Public Safety Commissioner Michael Sauschuck. Chief Gauvin has had an exemplary career, and has treated everyone fairly, regardless of political affiliation.
Our culture is being taken over by an “outrage industry” of a minority group of self-appointed arbiters of the public good. But who decides this? During a speech to the U.N., then-President Barack Obama said, “The strongest weapon against hateful speech is not repression, it is more speech.”
We may not like what someone has to say, but the last I checked it is protected speech under the First Amendment. Chief Russell Gauvin deserves to be reinstated. This partisan attack is not right, and it is certainly not American.
Kevin Landry
Lewiston
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