Louisiana school board member apologizes after posting threatening noose meme to Facebook

A member of Louisiana's Tangipahoa Parish School Board said Tuesday that he is "saddened by the misplaced reaction" to a disturbing meme he posted on Facebook. The image featured a noose and the text "if we want to make America great again, we will have to make evil people fear punishment again," The Advocate reports.

The post, which Mike Whitlow shared after the Florida school shooting, provoked a statement from local councilman Louis Joseph, who said: "I am extremely offended by his post as we all know the history and meaning of the hangman's noose, especially as it pertains to African-Americans. As a member of the school board, what message are you sending to the students, employees, and parents of our school system, let alone people that may be considering moving into our parish?"

The meme appears to have originated in October 2017 on a page called Weapons Vault, a pro-gun and Second Amendment Facebook group, New Orleans' WWL-TV reports. "Yesterday, I came across an article on Facebook that advocated for such stiffer sentences for violence offenses and simply shared the article on my personal Facebook page," Whitlow said. "The article had no racial or discriminatory tones whatsoever."

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He deleted the noose meme, adding: "I apologize to anyone who was offended by a post I recently shared."