Glenn Rivet
August 22, 2015
Joshua Williams chooses performance over police radios
August 24, 2015Terrebonne Parish Sheriff Jerry Larpenter said he is personally looking into a Facebook furor fueled by a dispatcher trainee’s potty-mouthed online video that some police officers find offensive, and which states that as a young black man he will not stop for officers trying to pull him over for fear of his life, and that if he were killed by an officer he would expect street retribution.
The trainee, Joshua Williams, who is the son of Terrebonne Parish Council member Arlanda Williams, did not post the video under his own name but as an online alter ego named “Jo Jackson.” The Jo Jackson page makes no reference to Joshua Williams’ connection to the Sheriff’s Office.
The video appeared Sunday morning on a local Facebook page called “The Buzz” which identified the character as a deputy and as the son of the councilwoman.
“Y’all are not going to stop me until I get to the nearest NAACP building, the nearest church ” the fast-talking Jackson charcter states. “I am not stopping … I am not stopping for you. If the police kill me y’all going to turn this m—f— out… set s— on fire. Y’all better turn it out.”
The alter ego, Sheriff’s Office officials say, bears no resemblance to the well-spoken and courteous young man who shows up for work.
But it was deputies, said Nicole Lirette, the landscaper who administers the “Buzz” Facebook group, whose 1,148 members are largely drawn from Terrebonne and Lafourche, who complained to her about the post and directed her to the video, which she shared on her page with comment critical of its content.
Local voices on The Buzz page called for the dispatcher’s dismissal.
There is evidence based on posts that the video was shared and re-shared from person to person via their Facebook pages. When she took it off the page in response to a request from Arlanda Williams, Lirette said, she began receiving numerous complaints from people demanding that it be put back up.
Arlanda Williams said she is blocked from her son’s Facebook page and has been for some time. After learning of the controversy, she was able to view the video with the help of a relative who had access.
“I have always taught my children to express themselves but not in an offensive way,” the councilwoman said. “I think he made a poor choice. For anyone who has taken offense we apologize. We, the Williams family, send a sincere apology.”
Larpenter said Sunday that he has not yet viewed the video but was aware of it. He confirmed that a letter of reprimand was issued by Col. Mike Solet, and that there has been one instance of employee counseling due to an offensive rap video that Joshua Williams had posted in the past.
“I am going to deal with it internally,” Larpenter said. “I think he is immature. He tried to be a rapper and now is trying to do his own thing out there. I don’t think he means anything bad but he might rap himself out of this office. He is good at his work.”
Larpenter said what he has seen of Williams’ performance art in the past reminds him of the Tyler Perry character Madea Simmons.
“I felt like somebody needed to stand up for law enforcement,” Lirette said, when asked why she chose to post the video. “I had deputies ask me how can they feel safe being dispatched by someone who had that kind of disrespect for fellow officers, for brothers in blue.”
Joshua Williams was contacted by The Times for comment but as of Sunday evening had not responded.
In a Facebook post below the video – which has since been removed from the Jo Jackson page – Joshua Williams barked at criticis.
“I am so sick and tired of people telling me what I should and should not say because of who my mother is,” the post states. “If you have a problem with my video from last night OH WELL.”
