A Director of Communications for Providence’s Planning and Development Department has resigned after publishing an ‘offensive’ tweet aimed at Cranston Mayor Allan Fung.
Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza told WPRO Thursday that he had accepted the resignation of Kevin Aherne and called Fung Wednesday to offer an apology on behalf of the city. Aherne has since deleted his Twitter account.
“I reached out to Mayor Fung yesterday and I apologized on behalf of the city, That was inexcusable and inappropriate, and Mr Aherne no longer works for the city.
Aherne’s tweet showed a photo of a Warwick police cruiser and an officer speaking to a group of people on the side of the road and was captioned “Oh @CranstonPolice, criminalizing poverty. @AllanFungRI Go Fung yourself.”
Fung shared a screenshot of the since deleted tweet with the comment Dear @Jorge_Elorza – Your staff should consult @GinaRaimondo’s campaign on how to properly identify Cranston, the best city in the state. #NotACranstonPoliceCar #HeardBetterSlamsFromA5thGrader.
Dear @Jorge_Elorza – Your staff should consult @GinaRaimondo’s campaign on how to properly identify Cranston, the best city in the state. #NotACranstonPoliceCar #HeardBetterSlamsFromA5thGrader pic.twitter.com/2bV7JlmT05
— Mayor Allan Fung (@AllanFungRI) July 10, 2019
Fung also appeared on Wednesday’s Tara Granahan Show on WPRO to complain about the tweet and says he felt disrespected by it. LISTEN BELOW:
