Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas (D) posted a message Monday that he received on his Facebook page using a racial slur against him and saying he should “hang on a tree” after he required wearing masks in public.
Lucas also noted that a manipulated image of him appearing in a T-shirt that read “F — the police” has recently circulated, posting the original photo, in which the T-shirt he is holding is advertising a local radio station.
“To the many who text me horrified by the fake photos that are circulating, I recommend that you do not believe everything a garbage dealer sends you … and use some judgment,” Lucas wrote. “It’s weird having to refute something so blatantly ridiculous and pointless (who takes a smiling photo of the police at a rock station?), But alas, that’s 2020.”
“Add to this the racial slur and subtle death threat I received yesterday about requiring masks, and it’s like, you … let’s do better,” he added. The message Lucas received calls him a “piece of shit n —-” and says “You should swing from a tree, I’m not threatening him, but I’d love to see him.”
Numerous major US cities have imposed mask mandates as several states, including California, Florida, Texas, and Oklahoma, experience spikes in coronavirus cases.
Lucas’s order, which went into effect on Monday, requires facial coverage in all interior public spaces or “while carrying out an activity that will necessarily imply close contact or proximity with co-workers or the public where a separation of 6 is not feasible feet”.
“Wearing a mask or covering your face can be awkward, but this is a necessary step to ensure that we can save lives and keep our economy open,” Lucas tweeted on Friday. “We wear masks to protect our loved ones, those around us, and their loved ones.”
Wearing a mask or covering your face can be awkward, but this is a necessary step to ensure that we can save lives and keep our economy open. We wear masks to protect our loved ones, those around us and their loved ones.
Mayor Lucas’ updated Order goes into effect Monday. #KCMO pic.twitter.com/Cnf96dB9fY
– Mayor Quinton Lucas (@MayorLucasKC) June 26, 2020
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