A concerned citizen shared a video with me of a @VBSO Deputy at the Capitol on January 6. I have been a target to some of these extremist, so I let our Sheriff @kenstolle know hoping he would help. Did Stolle do anything? Yes! He fired my husband this morning. #detoxVB pic.twitter.com/vxg038y2JU
— Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler (@DelegateFowler) November 30, 2021
Per the Virginian-Pilot, Convirs-Fowler and Republican Virginia Beach Sheriff Ken Stolle went back and forth for a while on Tuesday, with Stolle denying that Sgt. W.D. Fowler had been fired, explaining that, as an appointee, W.D. Fowler would not be staying on as Stolle begins his fourth four-year term in office on January 1st. That reasoning is technically valid, as political appointees are at-will employees who can dropped at any time from executive offices in the United States but Stolle did not actually say why he declined to pick up Fowler for another term, or why Fowler was placed on paid administrative leave for the remainder of the term. Stolle also offered contradictory information about W.D. Fowler’s job performance over his 15 year career. Stolle deleted at least one tweet of the exchange, in which Convirs-Fowler specified she believes the unnamed deputy is a member of the 3%ers, a far-right MAGA militia known for its law-enforcement heavy membership.
A review going back about the last 18 months of Stolle’s personal Twitter feed reveals it is fairly light on political imagery, aside from conspicuous placement of the Back the Blue flag in a number of his pics and an endorsement of cheating weasel former GOP Congressman Scott Taylor. Taylor lost his 2020 comeback bid after first losing his seat in 2018 to Dem Elaine Luria following a scandal in which three local Republican operatives were charged in a scheme to place a third party candidate on the ballot using fake petition signatures. Besides those indiscretions, Stolle is clearly pro-vax and does not appear to be another David Clarke, Christopher Schmaling, or Joe Arpaio.