Florence County Sheriff’s Facebook Page Yanked Offline

“If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen …”

This is one of our favorite expressions.  Unfortunately, far too many public officials in the Palmetto State cannot take the heat.  At all.

One of them?  Fourth-term Florence County, South Carolina sheriff Kenney Boone – whose unspooling over the last year has been something to behold.

Once among the most respected local law enforcement officials in the state, Boone has devolved into a hot mess since returning from a stint in rehab for an alcohol addiction in late 2017.

The drama surrounding him reached a boiling point last summer, when Boone embarked upon the first of his headline-generating spats with county officials, other law enforcement agencies and the ex-husband of his new wife, Anna Hovey Boone.

What is driving these dust-ups?  Your guess is as good as ours, but this news outlet has not shied away from criticizing Boone when we believe his increasingly erratic antics compromise the effectiveness of his agency.  That happened last week when the Florence County sheriff’s office removed its Facebook page – a development exclusively reported by WBTW TV 13 (CBS – Florence/ Myrtle Beach, S.C.).

According to the television station’s January 11 report, the page “was removed within the past few days.”

“A Google search of the page leads to a Facebook error message that says, ‘Sorry, this content isn’t available right now.'”

What happened?  Again, when it comes to Boone, your guess is as good as ours … 

The removal of the Florence County sheriff’s Facebook page comes a month after Anna Boone removed her page from Facebook – ostensibly in response to criticisms made by a woman named Angela Filyaw who lives in Mechanicsville, S.C.

According to our sources, Filyaw made several posts tagging the office’s Facebook page in recent weeks, with many of the responses eliciting support for her – and criticism of Boone.  One post in particular – which alluded to an alleged traffic accident involving the sheriff – appears to have hit a bit too close to home.

Whatever prompted the removal of this Facebook page, we would urge Boone to restore it.  Communities rely on social media to connect with their local law enforcement agencies – and more importantly, to stay informed of relevant threats within their neighborhoods.  For a page like this to be taken offline because of an elected official’s inability to handle criticism is inexcusable.

Boone needs to put the needs of Florence County first (for a change) and restore this page immediately …

More importantly, if he is incapable of handling public criticism (most of it deserved criticism) we would humbly suggest he make alternative employment arrangements.

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