(TBEN DETROIT) – Macomb County Prosecutor Pete Lucido apologized Friday after receiving comments on a social media post that quoted Robert E. Lee on his birthday calling the post “inappropriate” and “insensitive.”
A screenshot of the Jan. 19 post showed a statue of Lee with his date of birth, and a quote Lee attributed that reads, “What a cruel thing war is: to separate and destroy families and friends, and the purest joy and happiness to corrupt God has bestowed on us in this world; to fill our hearts with hatred instead of love for our neighbours, and to destroy the beautiful face of this beautiful world.”
In his statement, Lucido apologized for the “stress the Jan. 19 post caused,” adding that he does not support Lee’s role in the American Civil War “or what the Confederate military was trying to achieve.”
“On my behalf, my communications director posts information about the office and occasionally current affairs on the Attorney General’s Office’s social media sites. On Thursday, Robert E. Lee’s birthday, a message was posted detailing his statement about the brutality of war, assuming it was historically significant and not thinking the post needed my review,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the larger context of Robert E. Lee was not taken into account, his support for the Confederate States, his relationship to our shameful slave history, and the hurtful nature of memorializing him to many in our community.”
Lucido says the post has been removed and the prosecutor’s office will implement a review process for social media posts.
In response to the post, Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel says, “I have nothing more to add. refuse to give him that chance. He has no defense. But whenever he tried to distract and make it look political, he jumped at the chance.’
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