Criticism Of Area Lawmaker Grows

JACKSON (WCBI) – Backlash is building rapidly for a State Representative Karl Oliver concerning a Facebook post.

Oliver reacted  to the removal of Confederate monuments in New Orleans by saying the leadership of New Orleans “should be lynched.”    The latest to weigh in is House Speaker Phillip Gunn who issued the following statement Monday morning.

“I condemn the comments recently posted on Facebook by Rep. Karl Oliver,” said Speaker of the House Philip Gunn. “They do not reflect the views of the Republican party, the leadership of the House of Representatives or the House as a whole. Using the word “lynched” is inappropriate and offensive. We call on Rep. Oliver to apologize.”

Oliver’s party is also condemning the statement   Party Chairman Joe Nosef had this to say about the post.

“Rep. Oliver’s comments were offensive, do not represent the Mississippi Republican Party and have no place in our public discourse. I hope he will quickly clear up his remarks to make his point without these inappropriate comments.”

Oliver has not responded to the criticism of his post.

Oliver is a Republican that represents the 16th District consisting of portions of Carroll, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery, Webster

Below is the complete verbatim of the post as written by Oliver.

“The destruction of these monuments,erected in the loving memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans,is both heinous and horrific.  If the, and I use this term extremely loosely, “leadership” of Louisiana wishes to, in a Nazi-ish fashion, burn books or destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY, they should be LYNCHED!  Let it be known,I will do all in my power to prevent this from happening in our State.”