A photo allegedly posted by Capt. Jay Baker, a public information officer at the Cherokee County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office, shows shirts with a racist and anti-Asian message about Covid-19.
“Covid 19 imported virus from Chy-na,” the racist shirt in the photo posted April 2, 2020, reads.
Although the account that posted it has been deleted, CNN was able to access the photos through a cached copy. The name on the Facebook account matches Jay Baker, and it claims that the individual is an employee of the Cherokee County Sheriff’s office.
The Daily Beast was first to report on the racist shirt photo. They also reported the account posted photos of Baker in uniform, with his name tag visible.
When contacted by CNN about the post, Baker told CNN, “No additional comment.”
“Love my shirt,” the photo caption of the shirt reads. It goes on to encourage others to buy their own shirts saying, “get yours while they last.” CNN reached out to the store selling the shirts, but did not immediately receive a response.
CNN also reached out to Facebook to see whether it deleted the account, or whether it was the user who did, but did not receive a response.
This allegation comes as criticism over Baker’s description of spa shooting suspect Robert Aaron Long’s actions on Tuesday continued to grow.
“He was pretty much fed up and had been kind of at the end of his rope,” Baker said in a news conference on Wednesday. “Yesterday was a really bad day for him, and this is what he did.”
Thursday, the sheriff’s office told CNN that Baker was no longer the spokesman on the spa shooting case.
Sheriff Frank Reynolds said in a statement Thursday that Baker’s comments “were not intended (to) disrespect any of the victims, the gravity of this tragedy or express empathy or sympathy for the suspect.”
CNN has reached out to Baker for comment.
CNN’s Natasha Chen contributed to this report.