We stand by the story, reporter

I’ve never met Lindel Toups. I’ve never spoken to the man. I’ve seen him in action via rebroadcasts of Lafourche Parish Council meetings.

And this week, I’ve seen what I hope is not the true measure of the man.

The Tri-Parish Times and, specifically, reporter Eric Besson have been at the center of a maelstrom following an in-depth piece in our Nov. 13 issue on the failed proposal to move funding from the Lafourche library system to build a new parish jail. During an approximately 10-minute telephone interview – the type conducted daily in newsrooms across the nation, Besson questioned Toups about the measure, which appeared on Saturday’s ballot.

It was during that interview that Toups became frustrated with Besson’s questions and went on a tirade. He criticized the library system’s use of funds. He attacked the people who access the library, lashing out at Hispanics, economically disadvantaged and – forgive me, I’ll never understand this one – hippies.

Throughout the entire interview, there was never a suggestion that any of the discussion was “off the record.” In fact, the day after the story ran, Toups contacted Besson to take issue with his use of a certain curse word when he made his now infamous quote: “Let that son of a bitch go back to Mexico.” The quote itself, Toups said, he completely stood behind.

The decision to run the quote was not made lightly, especially given the gravity of the issue. It is a fact that Lafourche Parish’s jail is antiquated. It is our belief that the jail actually poses a threat to the men and women charged with policing prisoners. That the council and voters will have to revisit this issue soon is a given.

Toups’ words, however, speak to his mindset of the proposals. To paraphrase, it’s our understanding that he has little regard for how the parish’s library board allocates funds and represents taxpayers’ wishes. His words also speak to his disregard for segments of our population as it relates to the library.

Toups almost immediately found himself in the crosshairs of angry Internet bloggers. By the weekend, the Los Angeles Times, Esquire, Gawker, RedState.com and dozens of other sites had elevated Toups’ statements to editorial fodder.

We, too, have had our share of firsts. Al Jazeera contacted our office Saturday for comment.

Sadly, with every interview, Toups has massaged his message. He’s gone from standing by his comment, to not making the comment, to making the comment in private as our reporter lurked in the background, to not remembering he spoke at all. How convenient, Mr. Toups.

In a Sunday report in a local paper, Toups went so far as to allege that I had contacted him promising to retract the statement – a conversation that never occurred.

When asked by reporter John DeSantis Monday about the comment, Toups said he received a call from someone at our office but can’t remember whom he spoke with. The councilman told DeSantis, “Maybe it was someone pretending to be someone they wasn’t.”

I’m sure Lafourche District 6 voters expected more from their councilman. They certainly deserve it. Maybe, just maybe, they were expecting someone who is not pretending not to have said something he did.

I stand by the integrity of the reporter, the story and this newspaper.