Surf City police chief retires after Facebook post, emergency council meeting

SURF CITY, NC -- Surf City's police chief stormed out of an emergency town council Tuesday afternoon after choosing to retire.

Surf City's mayor called the emergency meeting to discuss personnel concerns. The meeting came after a post on social media by Police Chief Mike Halstead last week.

The post, that has since been deleted or made unavailable to view by some, detailed Halstead's concerns about the "Black Lives Matter" movement. He called the movement "an American-born terrorist group" and said the government needs to step up and put a stop to it. He said the movement glorifies criminals and vilifies members of law enforcement.

Town Manager Larry Bergman said the post was in reference to a recent event.

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