Earlier on Monday, we tweeted a story in the Bemidji Pioneer:
The article didn't include the meme itself, but a friend in the Blackduck area sent us the screengrab at the top of this post. We have been able to find it on Political Correctness Must Die.
However, it looks as if former city council member and mayor Rudy Patch's political career has died.
The headline now reads UPDATED: Blackduck mayor resigns, emergency meeting canceled.
The newspaper copy now tells the story of Patch's withdrawal from city government:
Rudy Patch resigned as mayor of Blackduck late Monday afternoon prior to a scheduled emergency meeting of the City Council.
The Council had originally planned an emergency meeting for 6 p.m. on Monday to address a meme that Patch posted on his Facebook page over the weekend. That meeting was to be held at City Hall with a limit of 10 attendees because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Later it was rescheduled for Blackduck Wayside Park so that more people could attend.
But the meeting was canceled late in the afternoon when Patch submitted his letter of resignation. . . .
Here is the text of Patch's letter:
"I have been a city official for the past 8 years and try to look out for the best interest of the city. I have made a mistake by sharing a post without the correct context behind it. The post was in reference to a conversation I had the night before. I ran across this post the next day and wanted to share it with that person. I did not like the post. I did not see humor in the post. It was meant for the individual to recognize how bad it could be to drive through protesters. And also, if you are going to protest, to do so safely because this could happen.
"It is not and never had been my intention to support running over protesters. It is heartbreaking to have heard that protesters were run over. I am truly sorry for all parties involved.
"As a first responder, I take my job seriously. I try to save lives, not take them. I put my volunteer work and city work ahead of my family most of the time. I believe in protests and support them. Protests can, and do, send a strong message. I would like for everyone to work together as a team. I believe ALL lives matter. I would like to get training available to myself and anyone that has interest in learning more about racism, to make things better for our community and world.
"Social media can be used as a good tool for people to spread their messages. In this instance, it is a life lesson for me about how things put on social media can be mistaken without a context to back it up.
"In closing, I am accepting the responsibility for my mistake. I do not want my councilors to feel as though they need to defend my actions regarding this post. I hope we can all move forward and make this a more positive community in the future. I truly believe Blackduck is a great place for families. I feel that it is in the best interest of the City of Blackduck to resign.
"At this time I regretfully turn in my resignation, I truly hope that the council takes the time to put in place some good racism training policies."
First elected as mayor in 2016, Patch was reelected to a second term as as mayor in 2018, after serving on the City Council from 2012 through 2016. He works as an auto technician and service manager at a local business.
The Wikipedia entry for Blackduck notes:
Blackduck is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 785 as of the 2010 census. . . .It is located 24 mi (39 km) northeast of Bemidji. . . .
As of the census[3] of 2010, there were 785 people, 338 households, and 185 families living in the city. The population density was 470.1 inhabitants per square mile (181.5/km2). There were 372 housing units at an average density of 222.8 per square mile (86.0/km2). . . . The racial makeup of the city was 89.4% White, 0.4% African American, 4.6% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.0% of the population.
Screengrab: The anti-social meme that prompted former Blackduck MN mayor Rudy Patch's resignation on Monday.
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