Official resigns after spat with Army veteran

“Freedom of speech, but watch what you say.”

Quote by rapper Ice-T

WEST PALM BEACH — Pat Edmonson quoted rapper Ice-T in her resignation from the Palm Beach Soil & Water Conservation District.

Edmonson resigned from her post as the vice chair after making inflammatory comments to an Army veteran on Facebook, calling him a “traitor” for supporting President Donald J. Trump and using profanity in her discussion with him.

Edmonson’s husband told CBS12 that her hate of Trump overwhelmed her, and the conversation between two people on social media became personal.

She sent a copy of her resignation letter to CBS12:

for the comments made to one person on a social media platform at a specific point in time. My comments have been globalized to assert that they represent my feelings towards veterans and the military; which they do not. My comments have been politicized by others to further their own agendas. Do my foolish and highly regrettable comments rise to the level of receiving death threats, does the punishment fit the crime? I will leave that question to wiser minds than mine. I made a terrible mistake; I apologized to the person I wronged.

“As the rapper Ice-T said nearly three decades ago when speaking about free speech in America, ‘Freedom of speech, but watch what you say.’ ”