CLARKSDALE — As people across the country protest to end police brutality and discriminatory policing practices against unarmed black people, a Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center nurse wrote a lengthy Facebook post calling protesters “thugs” and wishing violence and death upon them.
Lawrence Self
A now-deleted Facebook post from Monie Brown, a registered nurse in Clarksdale.“What the hell is wrong with you people? People haven’t had a second thought about George Floyd and it is very clear because of all the rioting, looting, arson, destruction of property, beat downs and murder,” wrote Monie Brown, who is listed as a registered nurse according to Board of Nursing records.
In the post, Brown lashed out at rioters and protesters who are protesting the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed by a police officer in Minnesota who kept his knee buried into his neck for more than eight minutes. In her post, Brown called the protesters “wild animals” and encouraged them to kill their own family members, burn their houses down and think about their actions.
“It is time we take this country back from you animals so be very careful about what your next step is because it can lead to 6 feet under! (President Donald) Trump is fixing to put your asses in jail or a grave. I hope it is the latter of the 2.”
In multiple posts, people in the Clarksdale community expressed outrage on social media, asking for others to report Brown’s actions and send emails and complaints to the Mississippi Board of Nursing and the local hospital where she works. Brown deactivated her Facebook page. Attempts to reach Brown were unsuccessful.
The Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center wrote a Facebook post on Thursday afternoon.
“Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center is committed to equality for all members of our community and strives to create an inclusive environment for employees to work and patients to receive care,” the statement said. “We serve the healthcare needs of patients and families of different backgrounds. All individuals in our facilities are to be treated with dignity and respect and we do not exclude people or treat them differently because of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex.”
Mississippi Today reached out to the hospital directly, but has not received a response.
Coahoma County Supervisor Derrell Washington told Mississippi Today in a phone call that the Northwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center CEO Joel Southern confirmed to him that Brown was fired Thursday.
Brown’s words are not the first to stir controversy in the state, as multiple public officials have been chastised for speaking out about Floyd’s murder and ensuing protests. Earlier this week, Madison County prosecutor Pamela Hancock suggested on Facebook that “the deadly strain” of coronavirus should spread among rioters who are protesting inequity in the criminal justice system.
Last week, Petal Mayor Hal Marx posted on social, “If you can say you can’t breathe, you’re breathing,” and said Floyd likely died of an overdose or heart attack, multiple news outlet reported. Protesters are still demanding his resignation, the Hattiesburg American reported.
This week community organizers across the state in Clarksdale, Meridian, Jackson and Gulfport, among other towns and cities, are scheduling rallies and protests against police brutality, racism and discrimination as a way to honor the Black Lives Matter movement and the countless number of black people who has lost their lives to those very issues.