L.A. County Sheriff Robert Luna announced his department’s latest investigation on social media would be “an internal review,” after a social media post from the department’s official account sent sympathy to the victims of a strategic U.S. military strike Saturday in Iran.
In a statement Sunday, the White House posted a message about its military action in Iran, saying, “The world is safer today because of President Donald J. Trump’s highly successful precision strikes against the Iranian regime’s key nuclear facilities — and that what happens next is up to them.”
Iran responded by launching missile attacks at a U.S. base in Qatar, according to international news reports Monday.
In a message to alert the public about the department’s vigilance toward any possible response, the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department called the bombing tragic and stated its “hearts go out” to those impacted.
“Our hearts go out to the victims and families impacted by the recent bombings in Iran,” read the opening of the post on X. “While this tragic event occurred overseas, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is closely monitoring the situation alongside our local, state and federal partners.”
Less than 20 minutes later, a second post was sent out without emotional sentiment, and then the original post was deleted, but screenshots calling out the deleted post had already made the rounds, with more than 3 million views by Monday morning, prompting the apology.
The department later called the post’s verbiage on a foreign policy matter “inappropriate and offensive” in an apology sent out at 7:54 p.m. Sunday.
“This post was unacceptable, made in error, and does not reflect the views of Sheriff Robert G. Luna or the department,” the post read. “As a law enforcement agency, we do not comment on foreign policy or military matters. Our mission remains solely focused on protecting public safety and serving our diverse communities.”
The department said it was launching an “internal review to determine how it was created and published,” which also drew fiery criticism on the social media platform, with many questioning why the department would have sent a post on foreign policy and also how it could not know who sent the message out.
L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, chair of the Board of Supervisors, declined to comment Monday, according to her Communications Director Helen Chavez.
Questions about the outcome of the department’s investigation Monday afternoon regarding whether the department had determined what had happened were not immediately answered.
“Steps are being taken to strengthen our social media oversight protocols and ensure that any future communications align with our department’s standards of professionalism, respect and accountability,” the LASD apology stated.
