19 People Supported Petition Boosting Joe Kelly Levasseur; One Calling for JKL’s Resignation Got Over 7,000 Signatures
Mayor & Several Aldermen Called for Levasseur’s Resignation in Wake of Allegedly Racist Remarks
MANCHESTER, NH — As of October 21, 2001, the Change.org petition Support Joe Levasseur and Michael Porter From Injustice has garnered exactly 19 signatures. it is a startling contrast to the Change.org petition Demand the Resignation of Joe Levasseur and Michael Porter, which has been signed by 7,078 people.
The anti-Levasseur petition reads:
The racist and/or violent comments of Manchester Aldermen Levasseur and Porter have come to the attention of all Manchester residents. The Mayor and 7 other aldermen have already called for their resignation. We need to show our support and also demand their resignation. We will not stand for this type of behavior by our elected officials.
The pro-Levasseur petition proclaims:
The accusations made against Joe Kelly Levasseur and Michael Porter of racist comments and slurs are totally unfounded and as such have undermined their abilities to serve as Alderman for their respective wards. This coordinated attack on both Alderman will not be tolerated by the Taxpayers and residents of Manchester, New Hampshire. We the undersigned demand an immediate retraction and apology to both Aldermen.
Both petitions were addressed to the Manchester Board of Mayor and Aldermen. The anti-Levasseur petition was authored by Shannon Maloney, a Manchester public school teacher who allegedly was targeted by Levasseur as part of his jihad against the public schools. Deborah Starin wrote the pro-Levasseur petition.
The anti-Levasseur petition was a response to remarks Joe Kelly Levasseur made on Facebook about a member of Black Lives Matter Manchester and about race relations in the wake of the George Floyd murder.
In late May 2020, a New Hampshire person made a post on Facebook encouraging people to protest the Floyd murder by vandalizing South Willow Street. BLM Manchester had planned a peaceful protest at the same place.
The individual later was later arrested for his provocation, and the Facebook post was taken down.
Levasseur posted a screenshot of the incendiary comment and claimed that there was no race problem in America. He also called an African American member of BLM Manchester a “zipperhead.”
The exchange by Levasseur and former Ward 8 Alderman Mike Porter’s remarks that snow plows should be used to deal with the BLM rally led to a call by Mayor Joyce Craig and seven aldermen for Joe Kelly Levasseur and Porter to resign for being “an embarrassment to the city.”
