Gary Casper was an executive at the Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Transcard up until about one day ago. Casper was reportedly let go from the company after posting a bummer of a meme to his Facebook page, showing former President Barack Obama with a noose around his neck with the hashtag “#PayPerView.” According to the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Casper was a vice president of IT at the company. The post went viral and was passed around and critiqued for being the inflammatory racist bullshit it was.
Casper’s meme made its way to Transcard higher-ups, who decided to cut ties with him. On Sunday, the Transcard Facebook page posted this statement: “The views reflected in posts made by individuals do not reflect the views or values of Transcard. This issue is being handled according to company policy. The individual of recent concern is no longer employed with the company. Thank you for your concern.”
Transcard president Chris Fuller told the Times Free Press that "As soon as Transcard realized that an employee was utilizing social media to engage in political speech, it took immediate action to terminate its relationship with such person." Reportedly, the company CEO’s as well as Fuller’s social media accounts have been recently deleted, as has the company’s main Twitter account.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Resource Manual cites that “Threats Against Former Presidents, And Certain Other Secret Service Protectees” are a prosecutable crime. This statute does include the important caveat that a prosecution “would not only require proof that the statement could reasonably be perceived as a threat but would also require some evidence that the maker intended the statement to be a threat. Objective circumstances would bear upon the proof of both subjective intent and objective perceptions.”
As we enter the election season and the Republican Party fights to lay blame for its weak and incompetent response to the COVID-19 pandemic, former President Obama is and will continue to be a big target. Conservatives, by nature, are old dogs with old tricks.
Below are the images of the short story of a racist and ill-advised social media posting.