Foul-Mouthed Pa. Police Chief Could Be Fired Over Pro-Gun Video Rants

The gun-toting Pennsylvania police chief who posted incendiary videos in which he ranted about the Second Amendment and liberals while spraying machine-gun fire with borough-owned weapons could could soon find out whether he'll lose his job.

Gilberton Chief Mark Kessler, whose pro-gun videos have garnered hundreds of thousands of views online, was suspended in late July for what the Gilberton council has said was unauthorized use of weapons. The suspension was extended after his original disciplinary hearing was postponed last month.

Kessler will appear at the disciplinary hearing Thursday morning. The Borough Council meets Thursday night and could decide Kessler's fate. The former police chief has said he expects to be fired.

Kessler acknowledges the videos are inflammatory, but says they are designed to draw attention to what he views as an erosion of Second Amendment and other constitutional rights. But this week he promised to stop cursing.

Kessler has also said he has no intention of going away quietly.

“The support has been overwhelming, both national and international,” he said last month. “I find it truly amazing how many people finally said, ‘You know what? This guy's right.’”

If Kessler's worried about losing job, he's not showing it.

“If that's the price I got to pay for standing up for what I believe in, apparently for what a lot of Americans believe in, I'm willing to pay that price,” he told The Associated Press at a gun range near Gilberton in northeast Pennsylvania.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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