HANCOCK COUNTY — The Hancock County Prosecutor has fired one of his deputy prosecutors for messages she posted on social media following the 2024 presidential election.
Brent Eaton, the prosecutor, shared the termination letter he sent to Jordan Stroh with WRTV. He also shared two of her social media posts with us.
One post read:
If you voted for Trump, please unfriend me. You disgust me and clearly don’t respect me or other human beings.
In another post she shared, Trump supporters were compared to Nazis.
In his termination letter, Eaton said he feels people who interact with his team need to believe the decisions made in his office are based on unbiased and common-sense reading of the law, regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation, sex, or political preferences.
He says he felt Stroh’s posts compromised the integrity of the Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office.
“I thought, if I replace ‘Trump voter’ with any other designation of people, be it somebody’s ethnicity, religion preference, or sexual preference, then would this be OK? Pretty clearly it would not be,” Eaton said. “At that point, pretty quickly it established in my mind what unfortunately was going to have to be done.”
Eaton says this was not a partisan decision.
Stroh is recently married and received the termination letter while on her honeymoon. She was supposed to return to the office later this month but has been told her services are no longer needed.
WRTV reached out to Stroh for comment but has not heard back yet.
The full termination letter reads:
Jordan,
In recent days, I have received multiple complaints regarding your recent social media activity.
Upon review it appears that there were some posts that are problematic. Specifically, in the aftermath of the national election results on last Tuesday evening, it appears that you posted, “If you voted for Trump, please unfriend me. You disgust me and clearly do not respect me or other human beings.”
Shortly thereafter, there was another post which, in context, seemed to clearly be referring to the election and voters who supported the now President-Elect. That post was a quote by Author A.R. Moxon that was posted with the clear intent to communicate a belief that those who voted for the now President-Elect were NAZIS in the same manner as those who were members of one of the twentieth centuries most homicidal, anti-semitic, genocidal death cults.
My statements are limited to those posts and messages only and no others posted at or near the same time.
HCPO can only be successful if we have public trust. Public trust is very difficult to acquire and very easy to lose. It is my expectation that all people who enter our office or interact with our team firmly believe that the decisions we make daily are based upon an unbiased and common-sense reading of the law and interpretation of the facts. It is critical that all people firmly know that, no matter their political preferences, HCPO will always interact and serve them with respect.
On Wednesday 10/30/24, prior to your departure for your nuptials, I provided all HCPO team members a copy of the HCPO mission statement, office values, and goals for our organization moving forward. Another copy is attached to this correspondence. The public communications you have made, which I referenced above, regarding those who voted for the President-Elect is at odds with our mission, values, and goals. It is impossible for the public, your colleagues, and law enforcement to have confidence in you and believe that you are going to make decisions based only on the law and facts when you have publicly referred to large parts of the community in the manner referenced above on your social media account.
To be 100% clear, my opinion on this subject would be the same if it had been any member of this staff referring to supporters of the current Vice-President in a similar manner. Even in this county which voted overwhelmingly for the Republican ticket, there are thousands of citizens who voted for the Vice-President in the election. All people need and deserve to have confidence that the law is being applied in a fair and impartial manner.
As the leader of HCPO, our team and this community expect me to set boundaries, expectations, and consequences for behavior that is unacceptable and diminishes the integrity of this office. The posts and comments made on your social media page are unacceptable. As a Prosecutor, you are charged with being a minister of justice. Unfortunately, the decisions you made to post content to your social media page call into question your ability to be a fair and impartial minister of justice equitably, to all that you serve in this community. They have irreparably tarnished the credibility and trust people have in HCPO. Therefore, your employment with HCPO is terminated effective November 12, 2024. When you return from your vacation on November 19th, you will need to make arrangements with me to collect your personal belongings from the office and turn in all office property (including, but not limited to your ID, badge, and laptop). Your email and other work-related logins have been disabled. Please feel free to reach out to me via your personal email or by phone. I regret that things have come to this but must do what is right for the office and the community. I wish you much success in the future.
