NAACP calls for termination of Columbus crime prevention director

On July 1, Columbus Crime Prevention Director Seth Brown posted a photo on Facebook displaying items he was purchasing at Walmart.

The picture showed a big bag of baking soda, a big bag of Epsom Salt, two big bottles of Liquid Plumber and a bottle of vinegar on the conveyor belt.

“When you’re checking out at Walmart and realize you have the makings of what looks to be some kind of Redneck bomb,” Brown posted along with the photo.

Now, the Columbus branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is calling for Mayor Teresa Tomlinson to fire Brown from his position as crime prevention director. Also attending a news conference, held at NAACP headquarters, were representatives of other grassroots organizations. Those present included Theresa El-Amin, of the Southern Anti-Racism Network, and Waleisah Wilson, of NewLife Second Chance, a nonprofit that helps ex-prisoners transition back into society.

Tonza Thomas, local NAACP president, said Brown’s comments come at a time when violent crime and terrorism are big concerns in Columbus and across the nation. She said Brown made the comment jokingly, but if he had been Muslim he might have received a visit from the FBI.

Thomas said Brown is a friend, and she responded to his Facebook post, telling him that it was inappropriate. But he just laughed it off, and didn't take it down, she said. Now, she wants him held accountable.

“We are living in serious times and such statements are not jokes,” she said. “If you are serious about preventing crime in Columbus then it starts with those who are parading around this city who support, or are supposed to support, the whole community. And it is for this reason that we are calling for Mr. Seth Brown to resign or be terminated immediately and indefinitely.”

In a phone interview with the Ledger-Enquirer, Brown said he purchased the Epsom Salt, baking soda and vinegar to treat a foot condition that his daughter recently developed, and he purchased the Liquid Plumber for a clogged drain. He said the Facebook post was just a joke, and he’s surprised at the NAACP’s call for his termination.

“When I was a kid, we used to make what we called redneck bombs, which was baking soda and vinegar,” he said. “It creates like a gas. It will pop off the top of a 2 liter bottle, if you screw it on loose. We would also have these little rockets that you could buy at hobby stores or craft stores, where you had the science row, and you’d mix the two and it made the rocket launch off.

“Maybe it was an inappropriate joke,” he said of the post on Facebook. “But, I mean, it wasn’t anything serious because there were no chemical components that could harm anybody on the table.

“And then to find out that Tonza is calling a press conference for me to be terminated, is just kind of surprising, considering that I’ve been extremely supportive of Tonza,” he said, pointing out that he has spoken at several NAACP events. “I’m in shock to be honest with you, especially considering we had a 16-year-old girl on Friday shot in the face, and we didn’t have a press conference about that. I mean, it’s just kind of odd to me.”

The controversy erupts as the Office of Crime Prevention is making recommendations for allocations to local agencies. Brown said his office received about 31 applications, and a seven-member board has chosen 26 programs for funding. Brown will take recommendations to Columbus Council later this month.

He said the NAACP was a part of a group that recently applied for a grant for a new project called the Muscogree County Jail Project. He said the request for funding was denied, and so was an application submitted by NewLife Second Chance.

Brown said he doesn’t know if this has anything to do with the call for his termination, but he finds it odd timing.

Thomas the NAACP has never applied for crime prevention funding, but supported an application submitted by attorney Katonga Wright and Superior Court Judge Gil McBride for the jail census project. She said she didn’t know the grant had been denied, and it has nothing to do with the organization’s call for Brown’s termination.

However, Mayor Teresa Tomlinson said the NAACP issued a news release making a direct link to the funding issue. In the news release, the organization listed four reasons for the call for firing. The first three reasons were his irresponsible public statements made post 911, the impact it could have on misguided youth and potential terrorists, and the nation’s current political climate.

“Finally, does he care that those funds are not reaching the people that need them the most?” the news release read. “Our children are dying twice a week on the streets of Columbus! Yet you ask a nonprofit, volunteer organization to help rid these social issues, and we will but it starts with being responsible. Join Us!”

Tomlinson said she won’t be firing Brown because of the incident.

“The NAACP did submit an application for funding through the crime prevention office and it’s not unusual for applicants who are not approved by that board to be disappointed,” she said. “Certainly, Seth is not going to be terminated related to basically his job of overseeing and administering the board that actually makes the decision because people are unhappy with it. If so, we would have a very difficult time keeping anyone in the position because people who don’t get the grant funds are always going to be disappointed.”

As for Brown’s post, Tomlinson said it was just a political statement about the troubling times that we live in.

“He made an observation that there are people who use household items for ill purposes,” she said, “and how the nature of people using regular household items for ill purposes could make us all suspects. It’s a stark observation of where we are in this world today.

“As a political statement, it’s protected,” she added. “Employees of the city government are entitled to free speech. Their jobs cannot be put in jeopardy for that. ... It was made on his private time.”

At the news conference, Thomas said the nation celebrated its 240th birthday this past weekend, but there are too many black communities in Columbus and other cities plagued by violence. She said the NAACP, in partnership with other organizations, will have a gun buy-back program with no police involvement on July 10.

“Those guns will be collected and turned into the Columbus Police Department, not to return to our streets,” she said. “Those guns should be melted down and destroyed; not one more gun on the streets of Columbus.

“As I am asking for Seth Brown to step down, I’m also asking our black community to put those guns down,” she said.

This story was originally published July 5, 2016 at 12:56 PM with the headline "NAACP calls for termination of Columbus crime prevention director."