Adams County officials condemn post by sheriff showing bloody ‘protester edition’ truck

The Adams County Sheriff is facing backlash over a since-removed Facebook post that appeared to show a blood-spattered truck with the caption “Protester Edition” posted during a weekend of national protests that included an incident in Virginia where police said an SUV drove through protesters.

In a post that was captured in numerous screenshots but is since no longer available, a post by longtime Adams County Sheriff James Muller, 79, showed a white pickup truck with red paint splattered on the hood and tires, suggested to be blood.

The photo was captioned “the All New Dodge Ram Protester Edition,” and appeared in the screenshot to be set to the “Friends Only” privacy setting.

The post’s timing appeared to coincide with a weekend that saw numerous protests around the country as part of the “No Kings Day” protests, which protested the Trump administration.

That included protests in Adams County, where Gettysburg saw the town’s square filled with protesters, along with large crowds in York City.

At least one demonstration, in Culpepper, located in Northern Virginia, saw violence similar to that appearing in the post, where police say a man intentionally drove an SUV through a crowd of departing protesters, striking at least one person.

In a statement issued on Tuesday morning, the Adams County Commissioners released a joint statement calling the post “unacceptable,” and reiterating that the sheriff’s office is “constitutionally and personally mandated to uphold the law.”

Adams County Commissioner Marty Qually, in his own separate statement, said that he did not support that joint statement, as “it has no repercussions.”

“Statements of horror and disgust at this action are as useless as ‘thoughts and prayers’ after a mass shooting. They do nothing to change the future. In fact in this case his statement is worse than doing nothing. His statements imply that violence is an acceptable response to lawful peaceful assembly,” Qually said.

“The Sheriff has placed law abiding citizens and law enforcement at risk through his comments,” he continued.

“While I respect our deputies, our security team, and local law enforcement, I have serious concerns when a law enforcement leader condones violence against innocent residents,” Qually said.

“It is unacceptable and has no place in Adams County,” the statement concluded.

Muller did not immediately return requests for comment by The Evening Sun on Tuesday morning.

Though the webpage for the Adams County Sheriff’s Office showed a “General inquiries” contact button in archived copies of the page from 2025, on Tuesday the “General Inquiries” contact button was no longer visible on the website, replaced with just a phone number.

Muller was first elected to county sheriff in 2005 after taking on the then-incumbent sheriff through a write-in campaign, and has since won five four-year terms in the role, newspaper records showed.

Muller did not run for re-election in 2025. In the wake of that decision, newcomer Josh Fitting, a state constable, won a hotly contested Republican primary in May against Adams County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant John Wega, who had been endorsed by Muller.

Adams County Board of Commissioners statement

“The Adams County Board of Commissioners does not support, condone, or agree with any action, innuendo or statement that threatens or appears to support political violence in any form at any time. The elected office of Sheriff is constitutionally and personally mandated to uphold the law. Any statement or action made by the sheriff that does not support that mandate, we regard as unacceptable.”

Commissioner Marty Qually statement

“The views expressed in this email are my own and do not reflect that of the Adams County board of commissioners.”

“The majority of the board of commissioners have drafted a statement to condemn Sheriff Muller’s actions.”

“While I support the words in the statement, I will not be supporting the statement itself, as it has no repercussions. Statements of horror and disgust at this action are as useless as “thoughts and prayers” after a mass shooting.  They do nothing to change the future.  In fact in this case his statement is worse than doing nothing. His statements imply that violence is an acceptable response to lawful peaceful assembly.”

“The Sheriff has placed law abiding citizens and law enforcement at risk through his comments. While I respect our deputies, our security team, and local law enforcement, I have serious concerns when a law enforcement leader condones  violence against innocent residents.”

“It is unacceptable and has no place in Adams County.”

Reporting by Harrison Jones, Hanover Evening Sun / Hanover Evening Sun