Rice County Sheriff Issues Statement About Alleged Deputy Tweets

Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn issued a statement Thursday addressing alleged tweets by one of his deputies that have become major news all over the country.

The New York Times and other major media outlets have picked up the story.

Rice County Deputy and Elysian City Council member Tom McBroom allegedly posted a tweet that has since been deleted in response to a settlement given Diamond Reynolds, the woman in the car when Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer in July 2016.

Many people responded on Twitter and accused Deputy McBroom of being a racist.

Sheriff Dunn issued a statement that reads:

"The Rice County Sheriff's Office has received information through the media in regards to recent comments made on Social Media.  These comments do not reflect the beliefs or opinions of the Rice County Sheriff's Office and Rice County Administration."

"The Sheriff's Office is reviewing this issue.  There is no other public information or comments that I can make at this time. Thank you."

The Deputy's alleged tweet was in response to the monetary settlement announced this week for Reynolds in the amount of $675,000 from the city of St. Anthony.

Reynolds will also receive $125,000 from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust  and the city of Roseville, bringing the total settlement to $800,000.

The tweet read in part........"She needs to come off County and State Aid now that she has some cash.  It'll be gone in 6 months on crack cocaine."

Sheriff Dunn has indicated Mcbroom isn't on the schedule to work but said he couldn't discuss for how long or whether it was related to his review of the tweet.