Protests continue despite reprimand in ‘racist pig’ case

Gwinnett board meeting draws calls for Hunter to go.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Gwinnett County Commissioner Tommy Hunter was publicly reprimanded by his colleagues last week — but Tuesday afternoon’s board meeting was little different than those of the last five-plus months.

About 10 people showed up to protest, some holding signs with phrases like “Hunter has to go” and “make racism wrong again,” again decrying the Jan. 14 Facebook post in which the commissioner called U.S. Rep. John Lewis a “racist pig” and referred to Democrats as “Demonrats” and a “bunch of idiots.”

And Hunter, per usual, left the meeting prior to the start of the public comment period used by the protesters to voice their displeasure.

“Commissioners, I appreciate your consensus and conclusion that Tommy Hunter deserved to be publicly sanctioned,” Lilburn resident Rachel Theus said. “And now I ask that you collectively call for his resignation.”

Last week’s public reprimand was the final result of an ethics complaint filed against Hunter in February over his Facebook post about Lewis and others. The reprimand — which noted a “pattern of behavior that fails to adequately consider the good of the County” — was posted on the county’s website and the courthouse wall, and will be published in the county’s legal organ on Wednesday.

Despite the small degree of closure afforded by the reprimand, folks on both sides of the issue made it clear the saga wasn’t over.

Hunter is currently suing the county and its ethics board, claiming the latter is unconsitutional and that his First Amendment rights were violated. Judge Melodie Snell Conner has not scheduled a hearing in the case, but Hunter’s attorney, Dwight Thomas, and consultant, Seth Weathers, both said after the commissioner’s reprimand that the lawsuit would still be pursued.

Anti-Hunter groups, meanwhile, are considering the possibility of mounting a recall election effort.

And, as they demonstrated Tuesday afternoon, those opposed to Hunter plan to continue protesting at commission meetings.

The reprimand “was a step in the right direction,” Gabriela Maduro, a junior at Suwanee’s Peachtree Ridge High School, said. “But he needs to resign.”

More protesters were expected to attend the board’s Tuesday night meeting.