A California woman who used a racial slur to describe President Obama on Facebook, writing that “maybe he will get assassinated” has been fired from her job at Cold Stone Creamery in Turlock.
The Facebook status by Denise Helms, 22, posted immediately after Obama’s reelection Tuesday, went viral and prompted an investigation by the Secret Service about whether it was a true threat.
Denise Helms
“I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal,” Helms told FOX40 Sacramento in an interview outside her workplace at the Turlock Cold Stone Creamery. “The assassination part is kind of harsh. I’m not saying I’d go do that or anything like that, by any means, but if it was to happen I don’t think I’d care one bit.”
As Helms’ post spread across Facebook and Twitter, the national ice cream chain began to respond to people who expressed outrage over Helms’ post.
“The employee is no longer w/the company. We were as shocked as you were by her outrageous & completely unacceptable comments,” the official Coldstone Twitter account responded to one user Thursday night. We found her comments to be very disgusting, and they do not reflect our opinions here,” the spokesman said. “We never saw anything from her at work like those comments.”
The Secret Service said all threats or perceived threats are taken seriously and investigated, but it declined further comment. Helms could face a felony if convicted.
The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.
