Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn told KDHL today an outside agency will conduct the investigation into alleged tweets by one of his deputies.

The Sheriff confirmed his department does have a social media policy and wanted to re-emphasize his written statement issued Thursday that, "These comments do not reflect the beliefs or opinions of the Rice County Sheriff's Office and Rice County Administration."

Dunn said he,"expects all department employees to treat everyone with dignity and respect."

KDHL asked how long the investigation might take and he said there was no set time frame and he couldn't speculate adding, "We just want it to be thorough and fair."

Dunn would not identify the outside agency involved in the investigation or even if it was a Sheriff's Department, Police Department or County Attorney's office.

The alleged tweets by Rice County Deputy and Elysian City Council member Tom McBroom drew a number of responses and major news outlets including the New York Times picked up the story.

The Deputy's alleged tweet was in response to the monetary settlement announced this week for Diamond Reynolds, the woman in the car when Philando Castile was shot and killed by a police officer July 2016.

Reynolds receives $675,000 from the city of St. Anthony and an additional $125,000 from the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust and the city of Roseville, bringing the total to $800,000.

The tweet read in part....."She needs to come off County and State aid now that she has some cash.  It'll be gone in 6 months on crack cocaine."

Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn. Photo by Townsquare Media
Rice County Sheriff Troy Dunn. Photo by Townsquare Media
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