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Judi Lynn

(160,219 posts)
Fri Aug 7, 2020, 04:55 AM Aug 2020

Michigan road commissioner uses racial slur during meeting to blame COVID-19 masks on Detroiters

Updated Aug 06, 2020; Posted Aug 06, 2020

By Matt Durr | mattdurr@mlive.com
Editor’s note: This story contains language that may offend some readers

Residents and elected leaders in the Leelanau County area are calling for the resignation of Leeanau County road commissioner Tom Eckerle after he used a racial slur during a recent public meeting when asked why he wasn’t wearing a mask.

“Well this whole thing is because of them (n-word) down in Detroit,” Eckerle allegedly said, according to the Leelanau Enterprise.

The comment came during a public meeting which could be heard by anyone who dialed into a phone number to listen the proceedings. Road commission chairman Bob Joyce immediately chastised the language, but Eckerle stood firm behind his statement.

“I can say anything I want,” Eckerle replied, according to the Enterprise story. “Black Lives Matter has everything to do with taking the country away from us.”

More:
https://www.mlive.com/news/2020/08/michigan-road-commissioner-uses-racial-slur-during-meeting-to-blame-covid-19-masks-on-detroiters.html


~ ~ ~

Commissioner blames Black people for virus, uses racial slur

Posted: Aug 6, 2020 / 06:22 PM EDT / Updated: Aug 6, 2020 / 07:32 PM EDT



A courtesy photo of Leelanau County road commissioner Tom Eckerle.

SUTTONS BAY, Mich. (AP) — A northern Michigan county official was heard using a racial slur prior to a pubic meeting to describe African Americans in Detroit whom he blamed for spreading the coronavirus in the state.

When asked by a colleague why he wasn’t wearing a mask before the meeting on Tuesday, Leelanau County road commissioner Tom Eckerle said “well this whole thing is because of them (racial slur) down in Detroit,” according to the Petoskey News-Review.

The Leelanau Enterprise, which first reported the story, said on its website that the meeting could be attended by the public via phone and that anyone listening could have heard the comments. Since it was made before the meeting started, the comment was not officially recorded.

Road Commission Chair Bob Joyce told Eckerle that he couldn’t say that, to which Eckerle responded: “I can say anything I want. Black Lives Matter has everything to do with taking the country away from us.”

More:
https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/commissioner-blames-black-people-for-virus-uses-racial-slur/

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Michigan road commissioner uses racial slur during meeting to blame COVID-19 masks on Detroiters (Original Post) Judi Lynn Aug 2020 OP
Makes you wonder what he says in private. madaboutharry Aug 2020 #1

madaboutharry

(40,153 posts)
1. Makes you wonder what he says in private.
Fri Aug 7, 2020, 05:06 AM
Aug 2020

It is pathetic that some people who belong to one particular group continue thinking that the country is theirs to be taken away.

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