Remember the kindly Sheriff Harry Lee in Bobby Jindal‘s anecdote last night? Glenn Thrush gives some background:
In the wake of Katrina, Lee grabbed national headlines by suggesting his deputies could randomly stop blacks to combat a rise in drug crimes caused by the displacement of low-income New Orleans residents.
He later abandoned the idea — but never apologized.
In an earlier incident, Lee sparked a firestorm by ordering his force to arbitrarily stop “young blacks in rinky-dink cars” driving in white neighborhoods, according to The Associated Press. He backed off that plan, calling it a mistake after the NAACP called on him to resign.
Shortly before his death, Lee stoked controversy again, telling a TV reporter: “We know the crime is in the black community. Why should I waste time in the white community?”
Sounds like a standup guy. With lawmen like Lee, stories like this one become less shocking.
— A. Serwer
