Metro Weekly

Arkansas police chief resigns after Parler posts attacking “Marxist Democrats” and trans people

Posts urged followers to "get in the face" of "Marxist Democrats," throwing water on them and pushing them off sidewalks

Photo: Caspar Camille Rubin, via Unsplash

A local police chief in Arkansas has resigned after posts he allegedly wrote on the social media platform Parler threatening violence against “Marxist Democrats” and disparaging transgender people came to light.

A user on the conservative-leaning Facebook-like platform with a profile bearing the name and picture of Lang Holland, the former Chief of Police of Marshall, Ark., posted multiple derogatory posts about Democrats, transgender people, and supporters of Black Lives Matter.

One post told people when they saw a “Marxist Democrat” in public, they should “get in their face,” “throw water on them at restaurants,” and “push them off sidewalks.”

“Never let them forget they are traitors and have no right to live in this Republic after what they have done,” the post reads. 

Politically-rooted confrontations are nothing new: many Republicans expressed outrages after U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) encouraged Democratic and liberal activists to engage in similar confrontations with Trump administration officials in an effort to “shame” them for their more controversial policies. 

But the Parler posts allegedly written by the chief went further, threatening: “Death to all Marxist Democrats. Take no prisoners, leave no survivors!”

The user opined in other posts that if supporters of Black Lives Matter or Antifa tried to intimidate someone while voting, they should be shot in the face, reports Little Rock-based ABC affiliate KATV.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, the user thought to be Holland also shared an illustration of former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others wearing orange prison-style jumpsuits, saying: “I pray all those in that picture hang on the gallows and are drawn and quartered!!!! Anything less is not acceptable.”

He also posted that transgender people should have no rights, calling them “mentally defective” and “perverted freaks.” 

The posts in question began circulating on Facebook and Twitter Friday evening. Another Parler account was created on Friday with the username “Chieflangholland.” That user claimed to be “the real chief,” stating the other account is fake and did not represent things he stood for as a “protector of all citizens.”

See also: Indiana city councilman apologizes for comments attacking LGBTQ people and Black Lives Matter

Both accounts were taken down on Saturday, as was the police department’s Facebook page. 

Marshall Mayor Kevin Elliott said he was surprised to learn that Holland had posted the controversial comments, saying that Holland has done an “excellent” job as chief prior to the incident.

“I called in the Arkansas Municipal League [and] my attorneys,” Elliott told The Guardian. “I got some advice on the steps I need to take and the proper direction I need to go. I called Mr Holland in, and he resigned as police chief.”

Elliott also condemned the content of the posts, saying they do not reflect the city’s positions.

“The Marshall community does not in any way support or condone bullying or threats of violence to anyone of any political persuasion,” Elliott said in the statement posted to Facebook Saturday afternoon. “We are a welcoming community that is humbly working to build a bright future for ALL our citizens.”

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