Call for lynching

A Mississippi lawmaker apologizes for saying Louisiana leaders should be lynched for removing Confederate monuments, only after his comment sparks condemnation.

JACKSON, Miss. — A Mississippi lawmaker has apologized for saying Louisiana leaders should be lynched for removing Confederate monuments, only after his comment sparked broad condemnation in both states.

“The destruction of these monuments, erected in the loving memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans, is both heinous and horrific,” Republican state Rep. Karl Oliver of Winona said in a post Saturday night, which was removed from his page Monday. “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.”

The post was made after three Confederate monuments and a monument to white supremacy were recently removed in New Orleans.

Oliver issued a statement Monday apologizing.

“I, first and foremost, wish to extend this apology for any embarrassment I have caused to both my colleagues and fellow Mississippians,” Oliver said. “In an effort to express my passion for preserving all historical monuments, I acknowledge the word ‘lynched’ was wrong … I freely admit my choice of words was horribly wrong, and I humbly ask your forgiveness.”

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, a Democrat, was among the officials criticizing Oliver’s original post.

“Now that everyone can see Mississippi state Rep. Oliver’s position on the matter clearly, his message proves our fight to tackle the issue of race head-on is both right and necessary,” Landrieu said.

Oliver is a funeral director and first-term lawmaker who represents a district that includes the tiny town of Money, where black teenager Emmett Till was kidnapped before being lynched in 1955.

Gov. Phil Bryant and House Speaker Philip Gunn, both Republicans, condemned Oliver’s post.

Gunn said Oliver’s remarks “do not reflect the views of the Republican party, the leadership of the House of Representatives or the House as a whole.”