Denise Helms, 22, posted a racist and threatening status on Facebook after the presidential election that cost her a job and has made her the subject of a Secret Service investigation. Helms was fired from her job at Cold Stone Creamery in Turlock, California. On Tuesday night, Helms posted the following on her Facebook page, “Another 4 years of this (N-word). Maybe he will get assassinated this term.”
On Wednesday, Helms was interviewed by Fox 40 from Sacramento. Helms said in the interview, “I didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. The assassination part is kind of harsh. I’m not saying like I would 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.”
Following her television interview, Helms posted another message on Facebook, saying, “So apparently my post last night about Obama got onto Twitter and Fox 40 came and interviewed me cause apparently a lot of people in Sacramento think I’m crazy and racist. WOW is all I got to say!! I’m not racist and I’m not crazy. just simply stating my opinion.!!!”
Now, her Facebook account is no longer active. Chris Kegle, the store director at the Turlock Cold Stone Creamery, said, “We found her comments to be very disgusting. We made the decision [to fire her] because of her comments, but also the community feedback. We are very into working with the community and doing community service. So when your community does not like you because of an employee, that’s bad. We have a business to run.”
The Twitter account for Cold Stone Creamery has been receiving hundreds of angry messages and the company responded with the following, “This employee is no longer w/the company. Her comments are outrageous, completely unacceptable & in no way reflect our views.”
The Sacramento Secret Service, according to Agent Scott Gillingham, said that Helms’ comments would be investigated. Should her comments be deemed as legitimate threats, Helms could face felony charges from U.S. Code Section 871.
