Fired Anniston police officer defends actions in hearing (AL)
By William Thornton | wthornton@al.com
on September 16, 2015 at 1:15 PM
updated September 16, 2015 at 1:43 PM
The Anniston Star is reporting that an Anniston police officer who was fired over his membership in a reputed white supremacist group testified he did not say in a 2013 speech that the department supported his membership.
Josh Doggrell, who is appealing his firing in June over his membership in the League of the South to the city's civil service board, was the last witness called in a hearing Tuesday.
Doggrell was identified as a member of the league in a post by the Southern Poverty Law Center's Hatewatch blog. Another officer, Lt. Wayne Brown, also identified in the blog, decided to retire to avoid "adverse publicity" and "creating a distraction" for the police department, officials said at the time ...
Doggrell stated in the speech that, during a department interview in which he mentioned his ties to the group, he told officials, "I'm not going to sell out my position with the League, as something I believe in strongly. If it came down to it, I'd choose the League." According to Doggrell, the chief responded, "We pretty much think like you do." That statement has been denied by both the chief who hired Doggrell and current Chief Shane Denham ...
http://www.al.com/news/anniston-gadsden/index.ssf/2015/09/fired_anniston_police_officer.html
