Last week, state Rep. John Burt shared a meme on Facebook making light of the unrest in Charlotte, primarily by African American residents, that occurred after police shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott, a 43-year-old black man.
The meme depicted a retail store with empty shelves and debris strewn around. Its caption read, “Looted NC Walmart. Only things left were work boots and Father’s Day cards.”
“Sadly it is true,” the three-term lawmaker from Goffstown added.
One of Burt’s Facebook friends suggested additional captions (”Condoms and toothbrushes also were untouched… Not a hoody left in the place.”) but another took exception.
“That is the most disgusting and racist thing I have seen especially from someone from the live free or die state,” he wrote. “Don’t any of you think before you post. You should be ashamed.”
Burt denied the image had a racist message, blamed Democrats for the unrest and repeated a debunked claim that the majority of the protesters were out-of-state agitators rather than aggrieved residents.
“No racist in this post,” Burt replied. “Just facts. Sadly this is what the Democrat party has done to these poor people. They do not give a hand up which I support. They give a check to keep you down and enslave you. Sadly the bad people at these riots are paid and bused in,” he continued. “Not all of them but the ones that cause trouble are.”
