A protester who participated in hanging an effigy of Kentucky's governor at an armed rally on the State Capitol grounds has been fired from his job at an auto dealer. Neil Huffman Auto Group said it terminated the unidentified employee after an internal review, saying it "does not condone threats of violence in any form," the AP reports. "There is no place for hate or intolerance at any of our dealerships," Shannon Huffman, the auto dealer's human resources manager, said on social media. Gov. Andy Beshear responded to a question Wednesday about the firing, saying "different decisions have consequences and I would hope that we would all make better decisions." "But you don’t simply in the moment make a dummy with somebody’s face on it and hang it up," the Democratic governor said.
"I think what we saw was an act intended to create fear and terror," Beshear added. The protester fired was identified by the Louisville Courier Journal as Terry Bush, president of the Kentucky 3 Percenters group. His dismissal was confirmed by his wife, Patsy Bush. "He was fired because this governor is more important than the regular Joe out in this state trying to put food on their tables," she said. The effigy was hanged in a tree near the State Capitol during what was billed as a rally in defense of constitutional rights, including the right to bear arms. The rally turned into a protest against coronavirus restrictions and Beshear’s administration, with protesters chanting outside the Governor’s Mansion for him to come outside.
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