[Lemon:] A Louisiana police officer who landed in hot water after posting a racist meme on Facebook two years ago is back on the job as his town's police chief. CNN's Nick Valencia has the story.
[Nick Valencia, Cnn Correspondent:] We came here to ask Chief Wayne Welsh why he posted a racist meme on his Facebook page. What we found here is a community that not only defends him, but is proud to have him as their top cop. Just beyond crawfish-filled waters of Southern Louisiana, rests a village of Estherwood. It is small and sleepy. And even though in November, residents elected a police chief who shared this meme on Facebook. Those we spoke to want you to know they're definitely not racist and neither is their top cop. Is this town racist?
[Tyler Lantier, Resident Of Estherwood:] No, it's not.
[Valencia:] Do you use the N-word?
[Lantier:] Often, but I don't use it as racist.
[Valencia:] How is using the N-word as a white man not racist?
[Lantier:] I don't find it racist. I got plenty of black friends, we all use it.
[Valencia:] Tyler Lantier has lived in Estherwood his whole life. He says just like most of the 900 or so residents here, he has no problem with Police Chief Wayne Welsh or the meme he shared. Do you think that's funny?
[Lantier:] Not necessarily, but at the time it was.
[Valencia:] What was funny about it?
[Lantier:] It was just a post on Facebook that was shared and everybody blew it out of proportion.
[Valencia:] Estherwood Mayor Donald Popp agrees. He, too, thinks this is all a big misunderstanding. The mayor says the meme is irrelevant now because it was posted nearly two years ago in July of 2017 when Chief Welsh was assistant police chief.
[Mayor Donald Popp, Estherwood, Louisiana:] He was disciplined. He was dealt with and then he was re-elected, ran unopposed.
[Valencia:] Months later when the spot for police chief was vacated in 2018, Welsh stepped in as the interim for nine months. Then in November, he ran unopposed. By the time of the election, people either forgot about the meme or didn't much care. What does it say about the people of this community that they would elect somebody like that?
[Popp:] Again, I'm going to say what reiterate what I said. It is not the mayor back at that time. I understand what you're saying, but I'm not going to elaborate on that.
[Valencia:] You are the mayor now.
[Popp:] I am the mayor now, yes.
[Valencia:] What defense do you have to have a police chief who put something like this on the internet?
[Popp:] I'll tell you what I just said. You know, I don't foresee any other problems with Chief Welsh.
[Valencia:] Hey, Wayne, are you there? We wanted to talk to Welsh on camera, but he declined. He did agree to a phone interview, then this happened. Minutes later, he sent me this text message. "Two years ago, I shared a picture on Facebook that I got a lot of heat over because it was said to be racism at that time. I didn't think it was. It was just sharing something off Facebook. I was suspended from the police department for what I did. I also apologized on Facebook and on the live news later. The next year, I ran for police chief in the election and the town voted me there new chief of police. What happened two years ago is behind me and my punishment was done to me and now I'm moving forward with my life as a new chief of police. Thanks." Welsh may be moving forward with his life, but black residents in Estherwood who account for less than five percent of the town, sound like they live in the past every day.
[Unidentified Male:] It doesn't surprise me.
[Valencia:] Out of fear of retaliation, no black residents that we spoke to would go on camera to talk about the chief. Their voice, it seems, is drowned out by the others in Estherwood who defend him.
[Lantier:] At the end of the day, if you need money or anything, you go to that man and he will give it to you. He is all around good guy. And whoever thinks this is messed up because he posted it, [bleep] in the head. I hate to say it like that, but they are.
[Valencia:] According to Noah.com, Chief Welsh recently underwent training required for all new police chiefs in Louisiana and that includes new guidelines and policy for social media. He said that if any one of his officers of his department does anything remotely similar to what he did, they would "be automatically terminated." He added, he doesn't want anything like this to happen again. Nick Valencia, CNN, Estherwood, Louisiana.
[Lemon:] Thank you, Nick. We got a lot to talk about. Keith Boykin, Tara Setmayer, next.