Suspected white supremacists governor of Maine Paul LePage stops talking in code & says Blacks are the enemy pic.twitter.com/qupifMd5Dq
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) August 27, 2016
It’s only been a few days since Maine Governor Paul LePage made headlines with his profanity-laced voicemail, but the spotlight continues to shine on his neck of the woods today. This time it is the result of comments made by LePage related to his stance that “90% of drug dealers” in the state are “black and hispanic.” LePage even added that he keeps a photo of every one of these drug dealers in a three-ring binder:
This was the comment made by LePage tonight about a collection of pictures he says he has of drug dealers in Maine. pic.twitter.com/AusJXSN0i2
— Morgan Sturdivant (@MSturdivantWMTW) August 25, 2016
The latest comments, as seen at the top of the post, follow up on that notion and show LePage clearly saying that the “overwhelming majority” of his “enemies” are not white:
Look, a bad guy is a bad guy, I don’t care what color it is. When you go to war, if you know the enemy, the enemy dresses in red and you dress in blue, you shoot at red, don’t you? You shoot at the enemy. You try to identify the enemy. And the enemy right now, the overwhelming majority right now coming in are people of color or people of Hispanic origin. I can’t help that. I just can’t help it. Those are the facts.”
Whoa: Maine Governor LePage Calls Minorities the “Enemy,” Suggests They Should Be Shot. pic.twitter.com/Bicgew301U
— Adam Parkhomenko (@AdamParkhomenko) August 27, 2016
According to The Huffington Post, the ACLU in Maine shows research contrary to LePage’s declarations and showing a clear focus on minority offenders by police in the state:
“According to the governor, Maine police are nine times more likely to arrest people of color for selling drugs than white people, even though we know white people are just as likely to commit drug offenses,” Alison Beyea, executive director of the ACLU of Maine, said in a statement. “This alarming disparity in arrests raises significant concerns that Maine law enforcement is participating in unconstitutional racial profiling.”
Reason reporter CJ Ciaramella posted this tweet in response to LePage’s original comments, adding in his FOIA request to see the binder full of “every drug dealer who has been arrested in our state.”
Happy #FOIAFriday to Gov. Paul LePage from the ACLU of Maine! https://t.co/YAU5WEvokV pic.twitter.com/MeDZIRqcl0
— CJ Ciaramella (@cjciaramella) August 26, 2016
But it’s elsewhere on Twitter that truly highlights how some in Maine feel about LePage. Following the latest round of comments, Stephen King posted the following:
Our governor, Paul LePage, is a bigot, a homophobe, and a racist. I think that about covers it.
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) August 27, 2016
I think we know who King’s next villain might be based on.
(Via Mediaite / Huffington Post)