RIDING THE WAVES

Georgia deputy suspended over Facebook comment about Arbery

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – A Georgia sheriff’s deputy was suspended and faces being fired over comments posted on social media after a judge sentenced three white men to life imprisonment in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, news outlets reported.

Reacting to a story on WGXA-TV’S Facebook page after the men were sentenced on their murder convictions in the shooting of Arbery, a Black man who was jogging through a neighborhood, someone wrote: “That criminal arbery still got the death penalty though.”

The comment was later deleted, but screenshots were shared with news outlets and the Houston County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated and subsequently suspended longtime deputy Paul Urhahn.

A letter from Sheriff Cullen Talton, posted on his department’s Facebook page, said the action was taken because of conduct that discredited the department and was unbecoming of an officer, WGXA reported.

GREGORY BULL/AP A surfer rides a wave at Blacks Beach on Wednesday in San Diego. Surfers throughout Southern California flocked to beaches Wednesday, as a round of large surf made its way into the region.