Update, afternoon of 8/6/2018: Well that was quick… Costner and James have been fired.
Introduction
Howard Reece Costner, currently employed as a Deputy Sheriff/detention officer in Spalding County, Georgia, is a participant in the Alt-Right who believes that racism is “normal” and who labels non-racist points of view as “delusional.”
Costner claims that he “respect[s]” the founder of the American Nazi Party and “agree[s] with a lot of his [George Lincoln Rockwell’s] points.” Deputy Costner also is open about his friendships with current-day neo-Nazis. Posting to a group on Facebook, Costner even shared a picture of a Nazi flag hanging in his living space. A glance at Costner’s social media accounts shows Costner’s support for fascist, antisemitic, and white nationalist political projects.
Another Spalding County Sheriff’s Office employee/detention officer, Jesse A. Jones, proclaims on his online gaming profile that “Hitler did nothing wrong.” Jones is a friend of Costner’s. Both joined the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office in late 2017.
We are not surprised at the presence of a hardened ideological racist in Georgia law enforcement, or about another Deputy proclaiming that “Hitler did nothing wrong.” There are likely others with the same commitments as Costner and Jones, although some may be better at covering their tracks. With our release of this documentation on Deputies Costner and Jones, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office must decide if it will continue to employ open ideological racists.