By Lauren Horsch
The Herald-Sun
DURHAM, N.C. — Comments made by a Durham City Council member have come under fire and some residents are now asking for her resignation.
Jillian Johnson, a first-term council member, posted on Facebook on Monday saying: “I am all about keeping guns away from dangerous people, but I feel like more of us should be pointing out that the most dangerous people with guns are cops and soldiers, and that the no-fly list and FBI anti-terror efforts are seriously corrupted by entrapment, racial profiling and Islamophobia.”
Her post — on her personal Facebook page — came the morning the U.S. Senate was expected to vote on four partisan gun control measures. The four bills eventually failed.
Since the original posting residents have been calling for her resignation, but she said she isn’t going to step away from her position.
“I think that if people don’t like the work I’m doing on council,” Johnson said, they shouldn’t vote for her during the next election.
On Wednesday morning — two days after her initial post — Johnson clarified her comments on her official City Council Facebook page: “I believe that state-sanctioned violence causes more harm, and is therefore more dangerous, than non-state-sanctioned violence. I believe this is true both because the approval of those in authority and often the general public gives a veneer of acceptability to actions we would otherwise condemn, but also because states have the capacity to spend huge resources equipping and funding people to use force in defense of their interests.
“The US spends as much on our military as all other countries combined. We have the highest police homicide rates in the developed world and we incarcerate 25 (percent) of the world’s prisoners. We should not ignore these facts, or wrongly assume that those who believe that this situation is fundamentally unjust and should not continue are harboring a hatred for police and soldiers. I certainly find a great many of the actions taken by militaries and police forces here in the US and around the world extremely troubling, and I also respect the humanity of those who do not share this disagreement.”
Johnson said she hasn’t been shy about sharing her thoughts about policing.
“I feel like I’ve made my concerns about policing clear in the past,” she told The Herald-Sun Wednesday. “That I’m very concerned about racial profiling, about aggressive, violent policing both in Durham and across the county. I don’t think I was saying anything new.”
However, what is different this time was that it was made on her personal account and people who disagreed with her decided to respond.
“I post a lot of my personal political beliefs on my facebook, and I think that everyone has the option to do that and engage in political discourse,” Johnson said. “I think it’s unfortunate that people have decided that this situation is something that they need to respond to in negative ways. Instead of having a respectful conversation … I’m happy to have those conversations.”
She said “we can disagree and still work together.”
The Durham County Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 2, posted Johnson’s comments on its official page. In the post, the FOP said, “This type of speech should not be condoned by the City Council or the citizens of Durham.”
After the FOP’s posting, Mike Evans, president of the organization, released a statement calling for Johnson to apologize.
“We would like Ms.Johnson to provide a public apology in reference to her comments that were made on her Facebook account,” Evans’ statement read. “While Ms. Johnson is entitled to her opinion, she is an elected official and should be held to a higher standard of ethics, like law enforcement is required.”
Newly-sworn Chief of Police Cerelyn Davis released a general statement Wednesday afternoon concerning the Durham Police Department.
“The City of Durham is fortunate to have faithful, dedicated police officers who are committed to serving residents,” her statement read. “Our organization remains focused on addressing crime concerns and quality of life issues, including fostering a positive working relationship with the community, while continually enhancing the department.”
Johnson said Davis has expressed concerns about racial profiling in Durham, and is working to create a transparent relationship between the community and the police department.
Johnson said she’s been working with the police department to bring body-worn cameras to the force — which was put on hold while the city hired Davis.
“I think that generally, that concern and bringing that concern, has generally been my role in most conversations,” Johnson said.
She said she didn’t think it’s “any surprise” that she and other people in Durham don’t feel safe.
“There are reasons for that, both here and on a national level,” Johnson said. “I don’t think that’s a secret or that we shouldn’t discuss (it).”
Since her original post has spread, emails have been flooding into the City Council members’ inboxes. One resident told the council the post was “making Durham a laughingstock of the nation.”
Retired Durham police officer I.R. Whitfield Jr. wrote to Mayor Bill Bell saying that if he had made comments such as Johnson’s while he was working for the city he would have been “suspended and/or fired.”
“Even though she is expressing her first amendment right, she represents the citizens of Durham,” Whitfield wrote. “Her comments could be construed as the sentiments of the majority of our citizens.”
Bell, a veteran, said in responses to residents that he did not agree with Johnson. However, he added that each member of the council is elected by the voters of Durham and “becoming an elected official does not mean that you give up your right to express your thought on any subject no matter how many agree or disagree [with] your remarks.”
Other council members have expressed their disagreement with Johnson’s comments, but have supported her right to express her opinions.
Johnson joined the council in December after garnering 23.4 percent of the votes cast during the November election. She finished in second place behind City Councilman Steve Schewel.
Prior to her election Johnson had been active in community organizing, and has remained active — including participating in a rally raising concerns about the cost of the new Durham Police Department Headquarters.
At that time, she said in order to address problems the city faces, it needs to invest in the needs of residents.
“We provide opportunities that build people up and make communities stronger,” she said in March. “We don’t build communities by sending more and more black and brown people to prison and to jail. We don’t build community by leaving families without support and stripping communities of their potential.”
Copyright 2016 The Herald-Sun