Mayor: We’re ‘Better Than That’ After Northpointe Clash
La Grange Mayor Janet Moerbe said she was “appalled and heartbroken” after hearing a resident of the Northpointe neighborhood describe the events of Saturday afternoon, Oct. 3, when the Fayette County Trump Train held a parade through the neighborhood.
The woman, Myeva Armstrong, spoke during the public petition period at the City Council meeting Monday night, Oct. 12. She alleged that some participants in the parade yelled racial slurs including the n-word at residents of the predominantly minority neighborhood.
“Some of them, not all of them,” she said.
“My kids are young, and it’s sad that we have to explain to our youth what racism is, that people hate us because of the color of our skin,” Armstrong said while choking back tears.
“This is not the tight, closeknit, quiet, respectful community of La Grange, Texas, that I have known and come to love, me and my children,” she added.
“I am concerned by what you shared with us,” Moerbe said. “We as a community are better than that.”
Armstrong said the parade blocked parking spots and fire lanes as it passed through, preventing citizens from leaving their residences. She asked the Council to put guidelines and restrictions in place for such parades regarding noise, traffic safety and vulgar language.
Moerbe said the City would look into her suggestions. The Mayor then asked Police Chief David Gilbreath to address Armstrong’s concerns. Gilbreath said he met with Armstrong and others from the neighborhood in recent days.
“I agree with them,” Gilbreath said in the meeting. “We cannot have that kind of behavior in La Grange, where you step outside your door and people call you ugly names because of the pigmentation of your skin. It can’t be that way.”
Gilbreath said he sent video of traffic violations allegedly committed by one parade participant to City Attorney Angela Beck for possible prosecution.
“If Mrs. Beck approves it, we’re going to file on that gentleman for running a stop sign and the noise ordinance,” Gilbreath said. “I talked with the organizers of the Trump Train and told them my concerns. They told me that if they run the train again, they will not blow their horns and run stop signs.”
“And no vulgarity and personal attacks,” Moerbe said.
“Yes, ma’am, I told them that, too,” Gilbreath said. “They said they were not aware that incident happened.”
Gilbreath said he would present a case to the City Attorney for disorderly conduct if neighborhood residents could point out individuals in the parade who said racial slurs. However, Gilbreath said no one has directly accused anyone in the parade of using that language.
“It’s very unnerving to know that we can collapse quickly to a state of what we’re seeing across the nation,” Moerbe said. “We don’t want that for La Grange. The people of La Grange are better than that.”
The Record has spoken with three people who participated in the parade and all of them deny that anyone of their group uttered racial slurs during the parade. However, this was posted on the Trump Train group’s Facebook page the Saturday night after the incident: “If anyone is shooting the finger at us or saying ugly things DO NOT retaliate or yell obscenities at them. Just act as though you didn’t see or hear them or simply say God Bless You. We are not about confrontation or acting out in a bad manner. We will NOT tolerate hate speech or starting anything with anyone. We have been having fun doing this and can’t let one or two people ruin it for us.”
A man who spoke with the Record said he was one of the people accused of saying the n-word during the parade, which he denied.
He did admit to messaging a Northpointe resident on Facebook after the parade and telling her to “go back to Africa” if she didn’t like President Trump. The man said he regretted that remark and sent it out of anger. He said he was not a racist and that the comment did not reflect his beliefs. The man said he has since received threats on social media.
Lots more from the council meeting in Tuesday’s newspaper.