NEW YORK: Prison Guard Suspended After Facebook Threat To Shoot Gay Neighbors

A part-time corrections officer in a Buffalo suburb has resigned after his superiors were notified that he had posted a Facebook message in which he threatened to shoot his gay neighbors. He has also been suspended from his full-time job at the infamous Attica state prison. Via the Buffalo News:

Richard “Rick” Pilarski Jr. resigned Saturday as a cell block attendant for the Cheektowaga Police Department after he acknowledged the Facebook exchange with family and friends in which he threatened to shoot gays. The exchange was spurred by a news account about a proposed ballot initiative in California known as the “Sodomite Suppression Act,” which calls for imposing the death penalty on gay men and women who are sexually active.

“We brought him in today and he decided to resign from the position,” Assistant Police Chief James J. Speyer said Saturday. “He was remorseful and apologetic. It is one of those situations where he never intended it to be something that would come out.” Speyer said the department received a complaint late last week and immediately suspended Pilarski without pay while beginning an investigation. Pilarski, 33, also was placed on administrative leave Friday from his job as full-time state corrections officer at Attica Correctional Facility, as the state investigates the complaint.

“Wouldn’t this be the greatest thing in the world??? The guys around the corner would be the first 2 faggots in my sights. What you do in your house is one thing but when you fly flags of equal rights and the rainbow flag in a small quiet neighborhood is another,” Pilarski posted Monday on Facebook. Pilarski acknowledged the Facebook posts were his but explained that he thought he was having a private conversation, Speyer said. After admitting the Facebook exchanges, Pilarski resigned from his part-time job, Speyer said. He worked five shifts a month in the cell block.

Prison officials and Pilarski's corrections officers union have declined to comment. His Facebook account has been deleted.