Black Leaders To Continue Pushing for Eggert's Resignation

CARTERSVILLE, GA — A representative of Bartow County’s NAACP said Monday that his group will continue pressing for the resignation of a school-board member who posted on social media that “live ammo” should be used on protesters.

“We’re not trying to make this political,” said Dexter Benning of the Bartow NAACP to WBHF Community Radio. “This is not a political thing. This is a right-or-wrong thing. To make a statement to kids that now is the time for live ammunition is totally wrong. It has nothing to do with politics.”

Benning’s comments were in response to Bartow County School Board member Terry Lee Eggert’s refusal to resign over his online comments.

“I will not be intimidated or distracted from the work I have set out to do,” Eggert said in a statement earlier Monday. He also asked the school board to “not politicize this matter any further.”

In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests in June, Eggert posted on social media that "real ammo" should be used to stop "this nonsense of looting, attacks on citizens and destruction of property."

The post drew fire of its own at a June 29 meeting of the Bartow County School Board, where Black leaders demanded that Eggert resign.

Eggert shot back Monday with his statement, which acknowledged that some may “believe my comments to be insensitive" but added that it “does not reflect who I am as a person.”

Eggert defended his statement as being “similar to the President’s” on the matter. President Donald Trump’s tweet in May — “when the looting starts, the shooting starts”— was flagged by Twitter as “glorifying violence” and widely condemned.

Rationalizing his post by pointing to Trump is part of Eggert's problem, Benning said.

“The President is one of the most divisive figures in the history of the United States,” Benning told WBHF Community Radio. “Mr. Eggert was elected to serve all of the citizens of Bartow County, not just Republicans or not just Democrats.”

One thing Eggert and Black leaders do agree on is the value of law enforcement, Benning said.

“No one from Bartow County or from the NAACP or from the Black Clergy of Bartow County has ever made a statement against the police,” Benning said. “We value the police, we think the police do an awesome job.”

But that doesn’t give Eggert license to say publicly that police should shoot protesters with live ammo, according to Benning.

“We’re not going to stop coming,” Benning said. “We’re going to continue to come to the school board meetings on a monthly basis. Whenever they have a meeting, whenever they have a public forum, we’re going to be there in numbers to show our displeasure and demand his resignation.”

The interview in its entirety can be heard on WBHF Community Radio’s website.

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