Texas Emergency Manager Suspended After Questionable Facebook Post
July 04--Lubbock County Emergency Management Coordinator Clinton Thetford has been suspended after a post he allegedly made on Facebook, according to officials.
The Avalanche-Journal has learned the questionable post was a cartoon of Looney Tunes character Elmer Fudd shooting President Barack Obama.
The A-J also confirmed what the image was through a Facebook search.
The first part of the cartoon shows Elmer Fudd pointing a gun at Obama while saying, "I'm here for your guns," while the second part of the cartoon shows Elmer Fudd actually shooting Obama's head.
The cartoon was brought to Lubbock County Sheriff Kelly Rowe's attention Thursday evening.
Rowe said Thetford was subsequently placed on administrative leave after a preliminary review and consultation with County Judge Tom Head.
Head was involved in an Obama-related controversy in 2009, when he defended a potentially offensive poster that commissioners ended up removing from a public bulletin board he maintained in the courthouse.
The poster began with a short narration of a man contemplating his morning routine, putting on an Obama T-shirt and buying drugs, robbing a store and hitting his wife, according to A-J Media archives. A sheet of mug shots of mostly black men wearing Obama shirts was tacked beneath it. During the 2009 controversy, there was a printout next to the poster suggesting no mug shots would show a criminal wearing a shirt supporting a Republican president. There were also numerous other posters critical of the Obama administration.
Head told A-J Media in 2009 he didn't see anything wrong with the posters and didn't consider them racist.
Head said Saturday evening that incident was in the past and he had no comment on it.
As a result of Thetford's alleged Obama-related post, he will remain on leave pending a full review of his actions next week, Rowe said.
Capt. Kathleen Finley is currently serving as acting emergency management coordinator.
sarah.rafique@lubbockonline.com
--766-2159
Follow Sarah on Twitter
@SarahRafique
Copyright 2015 - Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Texas
