In a unanimous vote, the Columbus Civil Service Commission voted to uphold the suspension of a Columbus Police Officer who was reprimanded for “liking” a post on Facebook.
The commissioners voted 3-0 that chief of police Selvain McQueen, mayor Robert Smith and the city council voted to suspend officer Lance Luckey on good faith and therefore denied his appeal.
City attorney Jeff Turnage argued that the controversial post was racially motivated and by “liking” the post, Luckey reflected poorly on his employer, the city of Columbus.
Luckey’s attorney, Tim Hudson, urged the commissioners to reverse the suspension based on the facts that the city does not have a social media policy, and that by suspending the decorated officer, his First Amendment right to free speech was violated.
Luckey and Hudson both maintained that the officer did not see the entire post. Luckey claimed he only saw the first line and the first word of the second paragraph, neither of which he felt were racially insensitive.
The post in question was made on Aug. 21 by now former Columbus firefighter and engineer Brad Alexander.
On Aug. 20, Alexander and members of Columbus Fire and Rescue responded to a call where a two-year-old child was hit by a car. The boy was transported by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle. His 17-year-old mother was not home at the time of the incident.
The next day, Alexander took to his Facebook page in regard to the situation.
“People never cease to amaze me. Mama yelling oh my babyeee my babyeee…Hey you stupid ass, where was babyees mama at while your 2 year old was getting hit by a truck. Mama needs to have her guts cut out so there won’t be anymore babies. Freeloading ignorant woman.”
The post received seven comments and twelve “likes.” Three of those likes were from Alexander’s fellow firefighters, Damion Estes and Eric Minga and Luckey.
Fire chief Kenneth Moore testified that he was made aware of the post by Alexander’s battalion chief, Mark Ward. Ward, who was on the call with Alexander, was shown the Facebook post by fellow fire fighter, captain Scott Swain.
“I was appalled, very upset,” Moore told the commissioners. “I was ashamed that anything like that could come from one of my employees.”
Moore told Turnage and the commissioners that he then met with members of his staff to discuss disciplinary action against Alexander, Estes and Minga.
The fire chief then met with mayor Robert Smith to inform him of the situation.
Moore said he initially recommended Alexander be suspended for 30 days and be required to seek counseling. Alexander would then have to be cleared by the counselor before returning to work.
That matter then went before the mayor and council the following Monday.
During the meeting, the council voted 2-2 to fire Alexander. Mayor Robert Smith later testified that councilmen Fred Stewart and Kabir Karriem left the meeting early and did not vote.
The decision was then tabled until the next council meeting.
On Aug. 31, Alexander tendered his resignation.
On Tuesday, Sept. 4, Chief Moore drafted a letter to the mayor and council stating, “It is with regret that I concur with his request and ask that his letter of resignation be approved.”
During the night’s council meeting, the council accepted Alexander’s resignation.
Moore and McQueen separately recommended that the members of their staff who “liked” the comment be suspended for 30 days.
The council voted 3-3, with mayor Smith casting the tie-breaking vote in favor of suspending the men.
Both Estes and Minga wrote letters of apology to the mayor and council.
Only Luckey appealed his suspension to the civil service commission.
During Monday’s hearing, Turnage repeatedly asked witnesses if they felt the post was racially-motivated.
The child in question is black. Alexander, Luckey, Estes and Minga are white.
Moore said the post and subsequent punishment created tension within the department.
“Some of them felt it was a racist comment like I did,” Moore said. “Some took it very personally.”
Moore encouraged the commissioners to uphold Luckey’s suspension.
“If this is overturned it will be detrimental to the people who are owning up to it. It will send the message that whether you’re right or wrong, whether you apologize or not, challenge it.”
Turnage then questioned Moore about the Facebook post, line by line.
When questioned by Turnage on the spelling of “babyeee,” Moore said he felt that was a racist comment, but it was the latter portion of the post that he found most offensive, especially the reference to crude means of ensuring that the mother would not be able to have more children.
“It was disrespectful and disgusting,” Moore said.
He also added that he felt the phrase “freeloading ignorant woman” was racist as well.
Moore said the entire post made him sick.
“That’s hatred right there,” he said.
When questioned by Hudson if Alexander created the post out of frustration that a child was left unattended and then hit by a car, Moore attributed the accident to “human error.”
“Everybody is having a bad day or else they wouldn’t be calling us,” Moore said.
Columbus Fire and Rescue Training Officer Dewayne Hughes then took the stand and testified that he felt the post was also racially-motivated.
Hughes said the part of the post that particularly bothered him was the comment about the woman not having any more children , saying it reminded him of the racially-tinged topic of forced sterilization in the late 1980s.
Hughes, who is black, testified that while he in fact was bothered by the post, he did not feel it was racist in its entirety.
“Chief Moore and I have a different concept when it comes to racism,” he added.
Officer Luckey then took the stand to argue his case.
Luckey maintained that he viewed the post on his cell phone and did not see the entire comment. He testified that he read: “People never cease to amaze me. Mama yelling oh my babyeee my babyeee…Hey…”
“I didn’t know what the rest of it said until I was in chief’s office,” Luckey said.
Turnage referred to Luckey as a “well-known member” of the fire department and asked him how he would feel if someone posted a comment similar to Alexander’s about his wife and two children.
“It wouldn’t be like that because we are around our children 24/7. We never let them out of our sight,” Luckey replied.
Turnage then asked Luckey how he would view a first responder who made that comment and then had to treat his young child on another incident.
Luckey again maintained his stance and stated that it would not bother him, adding, “It’s a personal opinion. People say things about me every day.”
Luckey said that the portion of the post he read was simply “Brad being Brad.”
“Anyone who knows Brad knows Brad is like a big kid,” Luckey said.
He stated that he liked the comment because he saw “liking” the post as “common courtesy on Facebook.”
“It’s customary to push like and let people know you read it,” Luckey said.
McQueen told the commissioners that by Luckey “liking” the post, he violated the department’s standard operating procedure.
In Luckey’s written notice of intent to suspend, McQueen stated, “You should never have attached your name to any information on the world-wide-web that relates to any occurrences arising out of any specific emergency response incident by the agencies of the City of Columbus and/or Lowndes County, especially one discussing personal injuries or health conditions of citizens or personal characteristics of members of the department.”
“Since the day you joined the department, it has been stressed to you that there are issues of confidentiality to be maintained and that anything you do or say in public reflects on the department and the city as a whole.”
McQueen testified that he recommended the 30-day suspension because he felt Luckey’s punishment should match the punishment of those from the fire department.
“Since we all work for the same city, I thought the punishment should be equitable,” he said.
McQueen further added that had the post been made by a police officer, he would have recommended termination.
Human Resource Director Pat Mitchell and Information Technology Director Walter Wickam testified that, from their understanding, “liking” the post was unethical and violated conduct laid out in the city employee handbook.
Wickam stated that since Alexander did not have his privacy settings set to “friends only,” his post was accessible to all 800 million Facebook users around the world.
Wickam stated there was no way to tell exactly how many people viewed the controversial post, but “enough people saw it that we’re here discussing it today.”
During the closing statements, Hudson told the commissioners: “This man, without a doubt, is being punished for a comment which we contend is free speech.”
“I heard nothing today other than speculation that it hurt morale or efficiency,” Hudson said.
Turnage then spoke on behalf of the city, saying that those who choose a field in public service, forfeit their rights to certain matters of freedom of speech.
“That type of servant doesn’t have the same rights,” Turnage said. “You sacrifice some of that.”
After the commission ruled against Luckey, the officer declined comment.
“It is what it is,” Hudson said. “It’s just a matter of interpretation. It boils down to officers’ rights as individuals. Have they shown the effect on the police department outweighs his rights?”
Luckey has 30 days to appeal the decision to Lowndes County Circuit Court.
Sarah Fowler covered crime, education and community related events for The Dispatch.
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