Kissimmee settles with ex-police officer fired over social media posts

Firing a Kissimmee Police Officer who made controversial social media posts is going to cost the city $132,000 in a settlement.

The city agreed to pay Andrew Johnson and his attorney $66,000 each after the city fired Johnson for his posts that mocked the Black Lives Matter movement and supported the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The city denied it violated Johnson’s rights by firing him but said it wanted to end the litigation, according to the November settlement Florida Politics received after a public records request. Both sides declined to comment when reached for comment this week.

“The silent majority will rise!! Day one of the Revolutionary War!! Hang on, it’s only just begun” #f**karoundandfindout” Johnson posted as he shared an image of the insurrection was unfolding. He added two shrugging emojis for good measure. It was one of two dozen posts he made about politics.

He reposted a meme of a handicapped parking space with the caption “BLM activists in Wisconsin paint street mural in support of Jacob Blake,” a 29-year-old Black man who was shot and seriously wounded by police.

“We call it the Chinese virus because it comes from China,” Johnson said in another.

Someone complained and sent screenshots of Johnson’s posts to the city which put him on paid administrative leave Jan. 12, 2021 and then fired two days later. The state attorney’s office later added Johnson’s name to the Brady List, a list of law enforcement officials who are not considered to be trustworthy in court. His firing caught the media’s attention.

Johnson was still in his one-year probationary period at work and could not file a grievance so he sued in 2022, arguing his social media posts did not affect how he performed his job as a police officer. 

“From approximately August 2020 until early January 2021, Johnson, who is of the Christian religion, pro-life, Republican, and pro-gun, posted his opinions on his private (personal) Facebook page as a private citizen on matters of public concern,” his lawsuit  filed in U.S. District Court’s Orlando division said. “Johnson’s Facebook Posts did not interfere with his ability to interact with his coworkers, citizens of Kissimmee, or otherwise interfere with his job duties as a KPD police officer.

Johnson’s settlement comes during a turbulent time for the Kissimmee Police Department after grand jury found the department covered up excessive force cases. One of those cases involved Johnson, the local media reported. Police Chief Betty Holland resigned in October.

In a summary judgment, U.S. District Judge Carlos Mendoza denied some of Johnson’s arguments — but not all of them.

Mendoza noted Johnson’s social media posts came during a tense time in America with racial protests and the insurrection on the U.S. Capitol. 

“Given the landscape of the country at the time, it is clear that if Defendant treated Plaintiff differently than other employees who violated its social media policy, it was because the other violations did not implicate these volatile issues that were particularly impacting police departments. This is a nondiscriminatory business reason for Plaintiff’s termination, and Plaintiff has not established that the reason was pretextual. Thus, Defendant is entitled to summary judgment on Plaintiff’s race and sex discrimination claims.”

However, Mendoza also wrote, “These posts could be read by a reasonable person as racist. …. Given the upheaval in the United States at the time, including the racial tensions and protestors storming the Capitol, along with the clear interest by the media in these issues, it was entirely reasonable that Defendant took action before Plaintiff’s comments could cause disruption to the functioning of the police force, including causing the public to lose confidence in Defendant’s ability to provide services.”

The judge’s order was signed Nov. 4, 2024, the day before Donald Trump was re-elected.

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