PHOENIX — A Maricopa County Sheriff's Office employee is under investigation after he made a comment on social media threatening to expose someone's home address.
The comment was left on a popular TikTok page where a nurse calls out others in healthcare workers who spread misinformation about the coronavirus.
“Words have meaning and he needs to be held accountable," said Nurse Tough Love.
12 News is only identifying the woman by her social media username, Nurse Tough Love, as she said she fears for her safety.
“I think that people think they can say and do whatever they want with no consequences," she said.
She is a nurse herself and said the goal of her TikTok account, which has more than 100,000 followers, is to call out other nurses who spread misinformation and oppose the coronavirus vaccine.
She has received criticism for it.
“I’m only posting what they have already made public," she said. "It’s literally just what they post on TikTok and Facebook."
A recent comment on her page, however, threatened to cross that line.
The comment said, "Everyone meet Karen the liberal who thinks only her opinion counts. Maybe we should post your nosy a** home address."
“I clicked on the commenter and it happened to be and it was clear as day in his bio Michael Stedman who is a deputy or something with the Maricopa County Sheriff," she said.
Screenshots of Michael Stedman's TikTok profile show "Arizona Deputy Sheriff" in his bio.
According to an MCSO spokesperson, Sheriff Paul Penzone is aware of the incident and has directed the professional standards bureau to investigate.
Sheriff Penzone issued the following statement:
“We hold our employees to the highest standards and expect that whenever they represent our organization, they recognize the standard of excellence and treat everyone with respect.”
“I felt violated obviously that someone would threaten that who could get the information," Nurse Tough Love said.
Stedman's TikTok account has since been taken down but this nurse believes that's not enough.
“Whether it was an empty threat or not it’s still very violating so really What I want to come from this is is for him to either be somehow reprimanded or get help because it’s not normal to just threaten random women online," she said.
12 News has attempted to speak with Stedman directly but was unable to reach him. MCSO declined our interview request.
Up to Speed
Catch up on the latest news and stories on the 12 News YouTube channel. Subscribe today.