Woman fired over Facebook post speculating on Obama assassination
A Turlock woman who used a racial slur to describe President Obama on Facebook and wrote "maybe he will get assassinated" has been fired from her job at Cold Stone Creamery.
The Facebook status by Denise Helms, 22, posted immediately after Obama's reelection Tuesday, went viral and prompted an investigation by the Secret Service about whether it was a true threat.
"I didn't think it would be that big of a deal," Helms told FOX40 Sacramento in an interview outside her workplace at the Turlock Cold Stone Creamery. "The assassination part is kind of harsh. I'm not saying I'd go do that or anything like that, by any means, but if it was to happen I don't think I'd care one bit."
As Helms' post continued to go viral on Facebook and Twitter, the national ice cream chain began to respond to people who expressed outrage over Helms' post.
"The employee is no longer w/the company. We were as shocked as you were by her outrageous & completely unacceptable comments," the official Coldstone Twitter account responded to one user Thursday night.
"We found her comments to be very disgusting, and they do not reflect our opinions here," Kegle said. "We never saw anything from her at work like those comments."
The Secret Service said all threats or perceived threats are taken seriously and investigated, but it declined further comment.
If the Secret Service were to determine her remarks were a legitimate threat toward to the president, Helms would face a felony.
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