Lori McAllen, an Oregon Department of Transportation employee, has been placed on leave after she posted a comment on Facebook calling for migrant children to be “killed” at the border.
In a Facebook comment, McAllen said “I personally think they should shoot them all at the border and call it good… it’ll save us hardworking AMERICANS billions of dollars on our taxes!! ;)”
Following the comment, public outcry immediately called for McAllen to be terminated
On Thursday, June 21, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced they are investigating the matter and that McAllen is suspended until further notice.
Facebook
Dave Thompson, a spokesman for Oregon DOT, told CBS News that they “received thousands of posts online and probably more than 100 phone calls.”
via CBS News:
Thompson said the department’s HR investigation of McAllen is still ongoing, and they are trying to authenticate the Facebook post. “HR is talking to her to determine if that was really her who wrote it,” he said. “When I looked for [her Facebook page] at about 7:30 yesterday morning, it was already gone. I don’t know if she took it down or somebody else did, but it’s gone,” Thompson said.
Oregon DOT sent out a tweet about the situation Thursday, saying: “An employee linked to an offensive Facebook post is on leave while we investigate. We take this matter very seriously and very personally. The comment doesn’t reflect our agency values and is disturbing and hurtful. Thank you for your patience as we complete the investigation.”
In his phone call with CBS News, Thomson reiterated that sentiment. “We are offended and hurt by such a post — no matter who made it — that does not reflect the values of the people who work here,” he said. Thompson also said the department had decided to put McAllen on administrative leave until the investigation is complete and an decision is made.
In addition to McAllen’s suspension and potential termination, the Oregon Department of Transportation released a statement on Twitter saying:
“We’re aware of a post that has been rapidly circulating through social channels espousing views offensive & abhorrent to the values of our agency. There is an active investigation into the matter. Thank you to those who have shared your concerns and we take this matter seriously.”
https://twitter.com/OregonDOT/status/1009544302991691776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbsnews.com%2Fnews%2Foregon-dmv-employee-lori-mcallen-comment-about-shooting-immigrants-facebook-under-investigation%2F
The Oregon DOT said that McAllen has worked at the Department of Motor Vehicles division as a DMV clerk for 10 months.
McAllen’s comment comes as many Americans have been protesting the Trump administration’s latest immigration policies.
In May, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the ‘zero tolerance’ policy in which all those apprehended entering the country illegally — including those seeking asylum — would be criminally charged which generally led to children being separated from their parents.
