WARREN — The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office is responding to accusations on social media that an assistant prosecutor made inappropriate posts.

Several people on Facebook have collected screen shots, or photographs, of comments and posts that assistant Prosecutor Christopher Becker made on Twitter. They then shared some of the posts in online groups or personal Facebook pages.

One of the tweets in March states, “Clowns to the left of me jokers to the right…”

Another in April states, “Relocating some fools.” One in August states, “I’m in the involuntary relocation services business.” One in November states, “A bunch of turkeys in orange.”

Some of the tweets include a Trumbull County Common Pleas courtroom as the location.

Some people are accusing Becker of being insensitive to the defendants he is charged with prosecuting.

“You’ve heard of the Circleville Pumpkin show? This is the Trumbull County criminal show,” one from last October states, along with a blurry image of defendants wearing orange jumpsuits in a county courtroom.

County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins said Becker has adhered to the office’s behavior and conduct policy and the code of professional responsibility.

While people may find the posts insensitive, they don’t violate any ethics, Watkins said.

“I judge my folks on the total picture of what we do. And people, like they have in the past, complain and I have to defend it. And I will defend it until I see something in someone’s behavior that affects how they handle cases,” Watkins said. “Nothing that I have seen leads me to believe anything Mr. Becker said has harmed any case.”

It is Becker’s responsibility to prosecute people believed to have committed crimes, not to be an impartial judge or a defense attorney, Watkins said. And being in the position of assistant prosecutor doesn’t mean Becker loses his right to make observations or have an opinion.

Becker said the “innocuous” posts seem to have been gathered by someone from out of the area.

“The individual, who I do not know and who I have never spoken to, has insinuated and incorrectly assumed that I am insensitive to criminal defendants based on social media statements,” Becker said.

Becker said the tweets about jokers and clowns referred to his co-workers, another one that mentioned a “creature” was referring to a mouse in a courtroom.

When he tweeted, “Here’s a fashion tip, no one looks good in all orange and belly chains,” Becker said it is a statement he uses when he speaks to youth groups and students to “encourage them to stay out of the criminal justice system” as defendants.

Watkins said Becker has worked diligently in his office for 20 years to prosecute people who violate the law in Trumbull County and he always does so in a “fair and reasonable manner.”

Watkins said in this era of social media lambasting, people who participate in online commentary should think about context and the totality of circumstances before judging someone.

Often, people attempt to discredit someone because they have differing points of view, which is something the prosecutor’s office faces often, Watkins said. Most recently, the office has come under scrutiny for declining to prosecute police officers who shot and killed a black man in Niles, following an investigation.

If anything Becker posted violated bar association rules or norms or jeopardized someone’s fair trial, Watkins said that would be a problem, but that is not the case here.

“I always respect and recognize the rights of the accused leading up to, during and at trial and throughout the criminal process. I will continue to work hard and protect the people of Trumbull County and prosecute those who commit crimes in our community,” Becker said.