{"id":355,"date":"2026-05-10T09:11:45","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T09:11:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dallasrelocationhubs.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2026-05-10T15:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T15:59:09","slug":"dallas-officer-was-suspended-over-irresponsible-posts-mocking-charlie-kirk-dick-cheney-new-records-show-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dallasrelocationhubs.com\/?p=355","title":{"rendered":"Dallas officer was suspended over \u2018irresponsible\u2019 posts mocking Charlie Kirk, Dick Cheney, new records show"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Dallas police officer who called Charlie Kirk\u2019s assassination \u201can absolute win\u201d and wrote \u201cthe sun will rise on a grateful universe\u201d after former Vice President Dick\u00a0Cheney\u00a0died was suspended for one day without pay, according to newly released records reviewed by\u00a0<\/span>The Dallas Morning News.<\/span><\/em><\/p>

Read more Second suspect arrested in 2002 killing of Plano businessman, Frisco police say<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Officer Qualin Dickson took issue with a Facebook post comparing Kirk to civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King\u00a0Jr., writing that the conservative activist would have supported the Ku Klux Klan and that \u201cNot only did he eat crow,\u00a0he\u00a0ate a high caliber bullet. Good riddance.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The discipline, issued in January, came amid\u00a0a\u00a0<\/span>broader national backlash<\/span><\/span> over social media posts about Kirk\u2019s death, with teachers, municipal workers and others facing investigations, suspensions or firings. The debate has raised questions about the limits of First Amendment protections for public employees.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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A deputy chief placed Dickson on paid administrative leave two days after his posts were flagged by a fellow\u00a0officer. The monthslong departmental inquiry that followed found the eight-year officer had violated the department\u2019s social media policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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On Nov. 4, while he was still on leave for the comments about Kirk, Dickson took to Facebook to celebrate the death of Cheney, another prominent Republican.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\u201cThis needed to happen,\u201d\u00a0wrote Dickson, who also serves in the U.S. Army Reserve. \u201cNow the sun will rise on a grateful universe…\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Dickson\u00a0<\/span>did not appeal the suspension but issued a rebuttal, the records show. He wrote he was exercising his First Amendment right by expressing his views and never connected his Facebook page with his position as a police officer.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\u201cMy intent was not to offend or cause any friction with my peers,\u201d he wrote in the rebuttal memo provided in response to a records request. \u201cIn the future, I will be more thoughtful and careful with any public social media posts.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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In his rebuttal memo, Dickson said his opinion was shaped by Cheney\u2019s role in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan after the Sept. 11 attacks. He added that he was not condoning violence.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Dickson did not respond to messages seeking comment. The officer\u00a0who\u00a0flagged\u00a0the posts\u00a0about Kirk\u00a0to internal affairs, Senior Cpl. Matthew Dechiara, also did not respond.<\/span><\/p>\n

Allison Hudson, a police spokesperson, said the matter was handled in line with department policy. “Dallas police employees are expected to uphold professional standards that maintain public trust,” she wrote in a statement Friday. “Because this is a personnel matter, we will not comment further.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Public-safety employees who commented on Kirk\u2019s death elsewhere in Texas faced stiffer punishment. A Hardin County sheriff\u2019s dispatcher and a Canyon Lake Fire and Emergency Medical Services employee were fired after posting on social media about Kirk\u2019s death, according to media reports.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Fellow officer worried about safety<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>
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Dechiara and Dickson\u00a0were\u00a0both assigned to the department\u2019s North Central Division\u00a0and worked\u00a0together.\u00a0The two were Facebook friends.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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In a memo, Dechiara said he came across Dickson\u2019s posts while\u00a0scrolling\u00a0on the platform the\u00a0day of the shooting and\u00a0described them as \u201cunprofessional\/alarming.\u201d He wrote that the posts made him feel \u201cuneasy,\u201d given that he works with Dickson and that Dickson interacts with the public.<\/span><\/p>

Read more Sen. John Cornyn has sharp Mother\u2019s Day message for Attorney General Ken Paxton in GOP runoff<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\u201cI felt if Officer Dickson saw or heard my political views or opinion of the incident, my safety would potentially be at risk either from a suspect on the job while\u00a0he’s\u00a0on scene or himself retaliating,\u201d Dechiara wrote, adding later that, \u201cwe should not be celebrating deaths of anyone.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Dechiara\u00a0screenshotted\u00a0the posts and passed them along to an officer working in internal affairs. He said he unfriended Dickson on Facebook because he did not want to see \u201cmore extreme posts,\u201d the records show.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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In his own memo, Dickson said he deleted the posts after speaking with a Dallas Police Association attorney. He reiterated his belief that Kirk expressed offensive views he believed were racist.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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\u201cMy personal opinions on matters of public concern have never caused me to lose my objectivity or negatively affected my performance as a police officer,\u201d Dickson\u00a0wrote.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Dallas police history with social media<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div><\/div>
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An assistant chief gave Dickson the one-day suspension during a hearing in early January, saying the punishment was consistent with discipline given to other officers who had run afoul of the department\u2019s social media policy.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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The policy allows employees to express themselves as private citizens on social media, but says their speech cannot impair\u00a0working relationships, interfere with\u00a0duties, undermine discipline and harmony among\u00a0coworkers\u00a0or disrupt department operations.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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Dallas police officers have faced\u00a0scrutiny\u00a0over their social media posts on their personal\u00a0pages\u00a0before.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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In 2019,\u00a0The Plain View Project, a\u00a0research group that collected and published public Facebook posts by current and former police officers,\u00a0identified\u00a0thousands\u00a0of posts by\u00a0officers \u2014\u00a0<\/span>including in Dallas<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u2014 they said\u00a0included racist, sexist, anti-Muslim or violent rhetoric.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

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