FLASH POINT
Cop’s social media post sparks uproar:
ASTON » Dan Wolf’s had a heck of a week.
The owner of Wolf’s Superior Sandwiches at 4417 Pennell Road became mired in a social media controversy involving police, death threats and Black Lives Matter. The incident also spurred a protest in front of the Delaware County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 27 in Media Saturday.
“Everything happened because everything on social media got twisted into something that it wasn’t,” he said Saturday.
It started Wednesday night when he read a post that said, “All lives matter.”
“I’m tired of hearing that,” Wolf said. “Black Lives Matter - it’s not a separatist statement. They’re saying, ‘We don’t deserve to die for nothing.’ I am in agreement with that.”
He was questioned on social media whether he believed police officers’ lives matter.
To which, he said he wrote, “Do they, though?” Then, he turned it off and went back to working at his business.
In response, Media Borough Police Sgt. and 1st Vice President of the Delco FOP Lodge 27 Robert “Skippy” Carroll responded on the FOP’s Facebook page: “If you choose to speak out against the police or our members, we will do everything in our power to not support your business.” Then, on his own personal Facebook page, Carroll wrote, “Try us. We’ll destroy you.” Those comments have since been taken down.
Carroll has since been placed on administrative leave and issued a statement reading, “This is a trying time for law enforcement. Officers are being murdered and assaulted at a record pace. Wednesday night, I made a post that was poorly worded and interpreted by some as inciting violence. That was not my intention and I apologize to those who were offended.”
Carroll could not be reached for comment beyond his statement.
When Wolf saw the officer’s Facebook comments, he said his thought was, “OK, what the f—- just happened? ... This is a misunderstanding and the truth will come out.”
Then everything escalated.
“I got death threats,” Wolf said. “I received death threats and all kinds of craziness ... I was s———- kittens until (Aston Police Officer) Mike Jones came to my defense.”
Jones, he said, was familiar with Wolf and his work in the community, particularly the various meals he’s donated to first responders and those in need.
“I reached out to Skippy Carroll through Facebook,” Wolf said, adding that the two spoke that night until 1 a.m. “It was something that was completely taken out of context. He’s tired of police just getting targeted, which is happening ... I support everybody who isn’t an a———.”
On Thursday, calls for Caroll’s resignation began.
“I understand why people are calling for him to resign,” Wolf said. “What he said was horribly ... out of line ... Highly in bad taste, it was because he felt the police were being attacked.”
The sandwich shop owner said the sergeant may have to go before a disciplinary committee to explain what happened and he’d be willing to go before it in the officer’s defense.
“Everybody’s said regrettable things on social media,” Wolf said. “He said it, it was regrettable.”
On Friday, he met Carroll in person when the sergeant and Delaware County District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer visited his shop and bought pizzas for the 911 call center staff.
“I gave the dude a big hug,” Wolf said. “It was our attempt at first steps to try and make things right. It was good, we all talked about it. Obviously, Sgt. Carroll will not be utilizing the FOP Facebook page for anything like that again.”
The business owner offered his own words about the police here.
“You have nothing to fear from the police in Delaware County,” Wolf said. “The Delaware County police have never targeted anybody that I know of. They’re local community cops, most of which live in the community. Our cops are not the ones seen on TV beating up everybody.”
He said the incident needs to be seen in the context of this moment.
“Obviously, the entire country ... everybody’s hypersensitive,” he said. “Social media is only being used to amplify it.”
And, he shared what he himself learned from the incident: “I would say that everybody needs to be a little more mindful of what they say because the worst thing that can happen in a time like this is it can make the situation worse.”
Plus, Wolf said, there’s no place like Delco and it’s his hope everyone can tap into how special it is.
“We all just need to get back to being people, just getting back to being Delco people,” he said.
“I gave the dude a big hug. It was our attempt at first steps to try and make things right. It was good, we all talked about it. Obviously, Sgt. Carroll will not be utilizing the FOP Facebook page for anything like that again.”
— Dan Wolf