BATAVIA, Ohio — A Clermont County man is getting some heat for a social media post he made on Feb. 8 comparing a lawsuit to lynching.
Christopher Hicks, a member of the Clermont County Republican Central Committee, posted on Facebook an image of a man being lynched alongside the case number of his lawsuit against the committee for sanctions against him.
“The post has to do with what I really think is abhorrent, is mob justice, and so the imagery I used on there of a lynching was related to mob justice,” Hicks said.
Hicks said he’s a target for trying to weed out corruption in his party and is suing the Clermont County Republican Central Committee.
The Cincinnati NAACP sent a letter to the committee on Feb. 15, calling on them to denounce Hicks.
Clermont County Executive Party Chairman David Painter responded to the NAACP the next day, saying in a statement, “the Clermont County Republican Central Committee condemns this behavior and unequivocally denounces the actions of Mr. Hicks.”
Painter said Hicks is under sanctions for actions unbecoming of a committee member. Painter said there is no justification a person can make comparing the treatment they received to the misery endured by African Americans for hundreds of years.
“It’s totally offensive and utterly despicable,” said David Whitehead, third vice president of the Cincinnati NAACP.
Whitehead said he was shocked when he saw the social media post.
“It’s hard to believe that someone is looking at a lynching action and equating a squabble they had with someone to a lynching,” he said.
Hicks said he doesn’t think there is anything wrong with using that image with his post.
“I think that imagery that stirs emotion in defense of stopping injustice is always appropriate, and I would think the NAACP would particularly get that,” Hicks said. “I always would characterize mob justice ... as a form of lynching. Obviously, actual real lynching is beyond what I have been dealt with, what I’ve had to deal with.”
Whitehead said the post is tone-deaf.
“Look at the definition of lynching. Lynching was a public killing of individuals who have not received any due process,” Whitehead said.
“There is no way in which someone should have a graphic with the traumatizing image for some personal gain,” he said. “To have that comparison serves to minimize the severity of past atrocities. It should not have happened. It should be denounced.”
Painter said in a statement, “This racist behavior further justifies the current sanctions enacted by the Clermont County Republican Central Committee and requests for him to resign from his elected position.”
During an interview with WCPO 9, Hicks apologized if the image offended or upset anyone, but he said he won’t take it down.
“I have no regrets about posting the imagery,” Hicks said. “I am glad to use that image because it is well within the tradition of America to use imagery that stirs emotion as a way to draw attention to issues of injustice.”
Whitehead said this is an example of why teaching Black history is important.
“Hopefully, through education, he corrects his actions in the future. To see nothing wrong with this, that's probably a bigger problem,” he said.
Whitehead said this post marginalizes the impact that lynching had on Black citizens.
Painter said Hicks doesn’t participate in committee activities except for those outlined by the Ohio Revised Code. He stated in his letter to the Cincinnati NAACP, Hicks is “engaged in litigation to regain his Central Committee rights and benefits at meetings and events.”
Painter said the committee will have a special meeting on Feb. 21, where they will talk about Hick’s post and later vote on whether or not to sanction Hicks.
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