In his first public comments since being exposed for threatening a fellow local official, Florence County, South Carolina sheriff Kenney Boone issued an ominous warning to “haters” and “creepers” who have the audacity to question him.
Specifically, Boone vowed to “return the favor ten fold!!!”
Here is the statement Boone posted on Friday to his Facebook page …
To the haters and the creepers, leave my family out of it. To you, the ones who continue to exploit them, Thank you for everything you’ve done to me and especially my family! I assure you, and God is my witness, I will return the favor ten fold!!!
Wow … is it just us or is this guy becoming completely unhinged?
Or are threats like these just his default setting?
Either way … this strikes us as troubling behavior on the part of any individual, let alone one who has near-dictatorial authority in one of the Palmetto State’s forty-six counties.
“These types of threatening statements are incredibly concerning,” one former Florence resident wrote in response to Boone’s post.
Indeed. Furthermore, we hate to break it to Boone but if he wanted people to “leave (his) family out of it then he probably shouldn’t have tried to take them on what appears to have been a taxpayer-funded vacation last month.
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[/timed-content-server]Earlier this week, our news outlet exclusively obtained a pair of threatening voicemails left by Boone for Florence County finance director Kevin Yokim (these were voicemails we reported on last month in connection with another investigation involving Boone).
In the first message obtained by this news outlet, Boone barked at Yokim to return his phone call – insisting the finance director call him back “immediately” or else he would dispatch a deputy to retrieve him.
“If I don’t get a call back I’m gonna send a deputy around your house or wherever you are to find your ass,” Bonne yelled on the recording. “Call me now!”
In a second message, Boone threatened Yokim with physical violence – as well as professional “payback.”
“I tell you what, you come to me (unintelligible) cause I’m gonna beat the -” Boone thundered. “Hell’s coming with me. If I was in Florence I would meet you personally.”
“Payback’s gone be hell I promise ya,” Boone added, vowing to use the influence of his office to create professional problems for Yokim and other Florence County officials.
Looks like Boone is now extending that rant to his broader Facebook audience …
S.C. attorney general Alan Wilson’s office decided not to prosecute Boone in connection with the threatening voicemails, concluding that they “did not meet the legal requirements for a criminal charge.”
We don’t necessarily disagree with that conclusion, although we do believe Florence County is erring in its decision not to reprimand Boone for his conduct.
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