A late night Facebook post by Gretna Police Chief Arthur
Lawson threatening a critic is raising questions among constituents in the West
Bank community.
ClickJefferson.com received
several emails alerting us to the post, made late Friday night. The post starts
innocently enough with the Chief mentioning that Country Music star Jason
Aldean is in Gretna and then degrades into name calling and threats.
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Arthur Lawson – “Jason Aldene
(sic) is at the (R)ugby (C)lub in (G)retna.”
Further down the string, after a
person mentions that she was just there and must have missed Aldean, an
individual questions Lawson.
Bobby Lemoine – “Wow!!!!...really
professional for an elected official to make up a story to drum up business for
a bar in his jurisdiction!!!...Arthur Lawson, YOU are what’s wrong with this
country!...as a voter in Gretna, I am a FORMER voter of yours, thanks to this
ignorant post!”
Arthur Lawson – “Bobby you are a
asshole I passed on what I was told but if you ever have a set of nuts you can
meet me at the Rigby (sic) Club and we can get it all straight.”
Shortly after, Lawson continues:
Arthur Lawson – “Supporters are
(sic) not he is a coward and he has no nuts!
Arthur Lawson – “Don’t know this
guy but would love to meet him, if any of you know him”
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While it is a matter of opinion
whether a Police Chief, or any elected official, should be promoting a bar or
other private business, clearly the name calling, threats and implied
intimidation are uncalled for from any elected official, let alone a Police
Chief, and should not be tolerated.
Chief Lawson is an iconic figure
in Gretna and has contributed much to the community. Unfortunately, his actions
and threatening behavior call his judgment into question. The Chief could have
easily deleted the response, “unfriended” or blocked Mr. Lemoine or just
ignored his comment. It was absolutely unnecessary for a Chief of Police to let
the situation degrade as it did and play out online.
In addition, rather than squash
the discussion, Chief Lawson and his supporters continued to pile on with more
negative comments, insinuations and personal attacks against Mr. Lemoine. A
Police Chief should diffuse situations, not egg them on with inflammatory
public comments.
