Honed for Hypocrites by Hobson

Over the past week, Lumberton has been abuzz about the allegations that Alderman Jay McGraw stole a Zippo lighter from the Shell station. What's more unsettling about the matter is the fact that there are people in positions of authority that are helping to cover up this theft; causing anger towards the police department and the management at the Shell station. It seems there's two set of rules in place; one for elected officials and one for everyone else. Surprisingly, this Zippo Lighter-Gate would have been yesterday's news had Jay McGraw accepted responsible for his actions by apologizing and resigning from his position as alderman. Instead, McGraw confessed on the news, said it was embarassing and said his lawyer advised him that he shouldn't resign. Since no arrest was made, I started digging for answers. Along the way, some feathers were ruffled because some people, namely Shell employees, want me to let the issue go. Unfortunately, I allowed my interaction with rude, angry employees distract me from investigating the elements of the crime.

It's easy to become defensive when you feel like you're under attack. Yesterday, I was complimenting a Public Works employee and a relative of Danny Davis didn't see the compliment. Instead, she focued on the fact that I questioned his hiring/firing practices. Almost instantaneously, I go into defense mode. But I'm beginning to learn that I need to let people vent. It's not necessary to respond to every one challenging my position on a matter because the only loyalty I have is to the truth. Some people say I'm rude, some say I'm hurtful and there's a faction that's supporting lies that claim I'm a slanderous stalker. Whatever label that's ascribed to my blogging style, one thing reacers must learn to do is separate their feelings from the facts. Just last week, there was a second woman that was tempted to accuse me of stalking because she couldn't defend her position with the truth. When I dared to say that this was the third white woman to lie in an effort to shut me down, there were a few readers that claimed they were offended that I mentioned race. As a matter of fact, I was accused of playing the race card. Really, I guess the fact that I had an encounter with white women that were willing to do anything, including making claims that an overweight black man with severe neuropathy in his right leg and requires the use of a wakler and/or cane is a stalker, was considered racist. Again, seriously! Keep in mind that I saw several non-black individuals sharing a story on social media this weekend because news sations didn't include the race of the black male that killed a Deputy Sheriff in Texas. Hypocritical much!?!

I attempted to respond to the readers who said they were no longer fans because I refuse to pretend we live in a post-racial socierty. But when I attempt to have a honest conversation about race, I'm not playing the race card. My ethnicity is not a game piece that's pulled from the "Community Chest" that can be used to allow me to pass go and collect $200 or get out of jail free. As long as the color of my skin is viewed as a weapon I'm never unarmed. During the social media exchange with one of the Shell employees, it was said that I like to "play" the victim. Let's be clear, I'm not playing anything. The reason why I'm so critical of the Shell manager is the fact that I know what it's like trying to get justice when an elected or appointed official is involved.

Back in 2011, a Lumberton police officer, Dennis Hobson, threatened me with a gun. I reported the matter to Chief Adrian Fortenberry and he took my report. Fortenberry conducted an investigation and recommended Hobson's termination during executive session. Just like most of the people that are killed by officers today, the consensus of the board, namely Kent Crider, Bobby Gibson and Timothy Johnson, I deserved to be threatened because of my blog. I think back and thank God for Hobson's inability to pretend he was an honorable person. I truly believe if Hobson wasn't terminated for allegedly using purchase orders to buy multiple iPhones, he would still be the Chief and I would probably be dead since it's acceptable for cops to kill certain people without provocation. Despite the lack of supprt from the board, I had a chief that was going to bat for me. The opposite seems to be happening with the Shell shoplifting case or maybe I should say incident since there's no case since Jay McGraw was never charged. After the board failed to take any action against Hobson, who's still a law enforcement officer, I had to file charges with the Lamar County Sheriff's Office. I called their office every week asking for an update but after a year, I was finally granted a probable cause hearing but Hobson was on the road to termination then. People that know me know I joke about not answering my door when people randomly stop by my house. Well, that started after I spent a night in jail because I didn't pay a parking ticket. Hobson teamed with others and got an arrest warrant signed by a judge because of an u pzid parking ticket. It just shows that a police chief can get a judge to sign a warrant for anything, including shoplifting, if they wanted him to. That's why I know if Tommie Mosley wanted Jay McGraw charged with shoplifting, there's steps she can take. I have more to share but I need to check more details. I will post a follow up and tomorrow will be Jay McGraw's first meeting after stealing a Zippo lighter. It's going to be interesting to see how a confessed thief behaves and vote after his shameful act of theft. Hopefully, the citizens will come out and demand his resignation but then again, this is Lumberton. Anything goes but nothing grows. I wonder why????