The CEO of a San Diego-based cyber security firm has resigned after he publicly threatened to kill President-elect Donald Trump amid last week's election results.
Matt Harrigan, the chief executive of PacketSled, wrote on his personal Facebook page that he was "going to kill the president-elect," a local Fox affiliate reported.
Screenshots posted on Reddit captured Harrigan's statements against Trump.
"[G]etting a sniper rifle and perching myself where it counts. Find a bedroom in the whitehouse [sic] that suits you motherfucker. I'll find you," Harrigan wrote.
After the message was posted on Facebook, the CEO was quick to apologize on his company's website. Harrigan claimed his post was meant as a "joke."
The full apology reads:
My recent Facebook comment was intended to be a joke, in the context of a larger conversation, and only privately shared as such. Anyone who knows me, knows that I do not engage in this form of rhetoric with any level of seriousness and the comment most certainly does not represent my real personal views in any regard. I apologize if anything that I said was either taken seriously, was offensive, or caused any legitimate concern.
Best Regards, Matt Harrigan
Harrigan's apology has since been removed from the PacketSled website and replaced with a new note saying the company's board has accepted his resignation. Harrigan was originally put on administrative leave when his comments became public before he resigned.
"We want to be very clear, PacketSled does not condone the comments made by Mr. Harrigan, which do not reflect the views or opinions of the company, its employees, investors, or partners," the cyber security company said in a statement.
PacketSled specializes in monitoring networks for "advanced threats and policy violations missed by other defenses," before analyzing and remedying them, according to the company's site.