The president of a group opposed to Navy jet noise on Central Whidbey has asked the Island County Sheriff’s Office to investigate an imposter who left an offensive comment in his name on the Seattle Times website.

Ken Pickard, president of Citizens of Ebey’s Reserve, said the bogus comment led to threats against him on a Facebook page dedicated to supporting the Navy’s Outlying Field Coupeville.

He said he also wants a detective to investigate alleged threats on that site.

Gina Cole, assistant digital editor at the Seattle Times, said staff investigated the source of the offending comment and concluded that Pickard did not write it. Still, many people on the pro-OLF Coupeville Facebook cast doubts about Pickard’s claim; as of Friday, the Facebook page’s moderator hadn’t removed the comment.

The comment, signed “Ken Pickard, President, COER,” was in response a recent Seattle Times story about the release of a Navy draft Environmental Impact Statement; the study looked at impacts from an increased number of EA-18G Growlers at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island.

COER members protest the noise caused by the Growlers that perform aircraft carrier landing practice at OLF Coupeville, a small Navy runway south of Coupeville. They argue the noise causes health problems.

The comment on the Seattle Times site states that the “military scourge” should be wiped from the island for good.

“The sight of all these tattooed sailors and their inflated spouses and families bring down our home values and fill our schools with bratty little simpletons,” the commenter wrote.

Pickard said he did not write that comment and contacted the Seattle Times as soon as he saw it. The newspaper took it down and added an editorial comment stating Pickard did not write it.

Pickard said he is appalled by the comment. While he doesn’t hesitate to criticized Navy leaders and elected officials — in terms some people consider outrageous — Pickard said he’s never had anything against rank-and-file members of the military.

Pickard and other members of COER say the comment was a cynical attempt to discredit Pickard and the group.

“It feels like a hate crime,” Pickard said.

Cole said the Seattle Times found convincing evidence that Pickard did not write the comment. The IP address of the comment was from Seattle, not Whidbey. The email address used to create the account is not one associated with Pickard or COER.

“The commenter account was created the same day the comment was posted, and that comment was the only one it posted,” Cole said in an email. “In our experience, this is an increasingly common tactic used by commenters to troll each other — as is the appropriation of a name or username.”

Pickard said someone also recently posted a rude comment in his name on a Whidbey News-Times story online. The comment, which was removed, had language similar to the comment on the Seattle Times story.

The Seattle Times comment was copied and posted to the Facebook page, “I support the NASWI OLF.” The site is for people who support OLF Coupeville and believe its use is vital to the nation’s preparedness, according to the page.

About 150 people commented on the post attributed to Pickard; many commenters were angry, though some defended him, saying he did not make the comments.

Pickard said he construed some comments on the Facebook page as threatening.

One commenter wrote that “someone needs to hit this guy with a pipe until they’re too tired to lift their arms.” Another wrote Pickard is begging to get beaten.

One comment that may have been removed stated that someone should brush his teeth with a gun, according to Pickard.

The moderator of the page wrote that Pickard made similar comments in the past about Navy personnel, though evidence cited only included comments he made about Navy leadership.

In March, for example, Pickard allegedly wrote that he hopes the former base commander goes “more deaf” now that he’s working near OLF Coupeville.

The moderator of the Facebook page didn’t respond to an inquiry from the Whidbey News-Times.

Island County Detective Ed Wallace said a number of factors will determine how much time and effort detectives invest in Pickard’s complaint.

When it comes to nasty comments on social media, detectives must determine if the words amount to actual threats; they would need to ascertain, for example, if the person who wrote it has the ability to realistically carry out the threat, Wallace said.

Threatening to kill a person is considered harassment, a felony charge.