North Carolina Officer Placed on Unpaid Leave After Allegedly Telling Other Officers About a ‘Clinic’ That Gives Out Vaccination Cards Without the Shot

A North Carolina police officer has been booted from his job temporarily after he allegedly told his fellow officers about a “clinic” that gives out vaccination cards without having to get the actual vaccine.

CNN reports that T.J. Smith, police chief of Oakboro Town, North Carolina, has been placed on unpaid leave with no probation after being accused of violating several policies within the police force. Some of the crimes alleged against him are fraud, willful acts that endanger the property of others and serving a conflicting interest when he allegedly told officers about the scheme, according to a letter that was sent to him from Township Doug Burgess, the news outlet reports.

The letter went on to say that the violations are connected to “detrimental personal conduct including notifying law enforcement officers to attend a ‘clinic’ where they would be able to obtain proof of COVID 19 vaccination cards without being vaccinated,” CNN U.S. reports. The letter was signed by Burgess and released on Tuesday. He’s now been punished with being placed on unpaid leave for two weeks along with six-month-long probation. His probation started this past Tuesday.

In a statement to a local newspaper, Smith said: “To make a long story short, in retrospect, I made a mistake.”

“After I got off the phone with that friend, I called two other officers (not in my department) and passed on information about what was described as a ‘self-vaccination’ clinic,” he says in a portion of the statement per CNN. “I got one phone call, hung up and made two others. I didn’t sit back and digest the information, ruminate on it, or otherwise give it much thought. I just passed it on.”