Police Chief Resigns After Bashing 'Left Wing Liberal, Smelly' Reporter on Facebook

An Arkansas police chief is stepping down after he bashed a female reporter on Facebook, calling her a "left wing liberal, smelly, arrested by police, unscrupulous reporter."

In his resignation letter, Jonesboro Police Chief Mike Yates admitted, "I let my anger and pride override my wisdom and judgment by saying a number of things that are unacceptable given my position."

Resigning Jonesboro, Arkansas, Police Chief Mike Yates. (Image via KAIT-TV)

As Reuters reported Monday, Yates resigned three days after the town's mayor had suspended him over things he said on social media about the local reporter.

Prior to Yates' resignation, the reporter, Sunshine Crump, had resigned from her post at the Jonesboro Sun, saying that she didn't feel safe, Reuters noted.

According to the wire, Crump will now be rejoining the newspaper.

So, what exactly did Yates say to elicit first Crump's, then his own resignation?

As the Arkansas Times relayed, the Jonesboro Sun laid out plenty of inflammatory social media postings the police chief had made:

* “Wonder if ole Sunshine [the reporter] could pass a drug test. Why yes, she has been arrested before.”

* “Pro-dope smoking, law license revoked, left wing liberal, smelly, arrested by police, unscrupulous reporter.”

* “This is the kind of journalism we have now ... ask ole Sunshine why her law license got suspended next time you see her.”

* “Reminds me of a song ... ‘ain’t no Sunshine when she’s gone’ etc.”

* “Dealing with ole Sunshine is like trying to pick up a dog turd by the ‘clean end.’”

To be fair, Crump has been arrested once — during an anti-war protest in college, Reuters reported — but Yates' resignation, coming three days after the Jonesboro mayor suspended him, seems to indicate that he realized it might not have been appropriate for a police chief to point that fact out.

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