The Secret Service is currently investigating Turlock’s Denise Helms, following her Facebook post which in- cluded racial slurs and assassination references against President Barack Obama.

After Obama claimed a sec- ond term on election night, Helms posted, “And another 4 years of the (n-word)… maybe he will get assas- sinated this term..!!” on her private account on Facebook. The post has since been deleted.

Helms, 22, was fired from Tur- lock’s Cold Stone Creamery Thurs- day, where she received angry phone calls and death threats. By Friday, her

story had gone viral. In response to dozens of custom-

er comments on Twitter, Cold Stone tweeted, “This employee is no longer w/the company. Her comments are outrageous, completely unacceptable & in no way reflect our views.”

Despite the immediate backlash, Helms told Fox 40, “I didn’t think it’d be that big of a deal. The assassina- tion part is kind of harsh… but if it was to happen, I don’t think I would care one bit.”

Helms said she posted to Face- book out of frustration, as the election did not turn out the way she hoped. She also said that in spite of the racial slur in her post, she is not racist.

Dr. John Sumser, California State University, Stanislaus professor who

teaches freedom of speech, explained that it is likely routine for the Secret Service to follow-up on seemingly threatening messages to check their validity.

“It is important to keep in mind that the only punishment she has re- ceived — and is ever like to receive — came from Coldstone, which is in the private sector,” Dr. Sumser said. “Employees have little right to free speech, and the distinction between one’s work and private lives seems to [be] increasingly blurry.”

Despite Helms’ repercussions, Dr. Sumser said the more alarming part of the incident is that the government tracked the post.

“It shows how closely such things are monitored; that key words like

‘n-word’ and ‘assassinate’ trigger a warning.”

The Washington D.C. Bureau of the Secret Service told Fox 40 that all threats are taken seriously and in- vestigated. If the Secret Service de- termines the threat to be legitimate, Helms could face a Class D felony charge.

Students are also alarmed of the backlash generated by the post, many said it causes them to re-think what they post to social media.
“It’s scary to know that even though you can try to put up walls of privacy, that people can just go in and access your stuff,” Christina Pegues (junior, Biology) said. “It feels like an invasion of privacy, and it feels so un- necessary.”