Police chief says in affidavit only one officer escorted Farrakhan

Following the visit Nation of Islam minister Louis Farrakhan made to Southern University in October, Baton Rouge Police Chief Dewayne White signed an affidavit stating that “Only one Baton Rouge Police officer accompanied State Police” in the department’s “routine involvement” in the escort of Farrakhan from New Orleans. Mayor Kip Holden says in a letter outlining his reasons for firing White released Wednesday that the police chief was not truthful about the “the lack of overtime required for the detail,” among other accusations. In the affidavit, which White apparently wrote and signed following Metro Council member Mike Walker’s campaign advertisement criticizing the mayor and police department for escorting Farrakhan, the police chief says it is departmental policy to escort public and controversial figures. “This includes insuring [sic] the safety of public figures that may be controversial and may invite a threat to their safety and the safety of the general public,” White wrote. He says Walker was “ignorant at best” to insinuate the police department was “relegated to the position of chauffeur” for Farrakhan. There is no date on the affidavit, which was obtained through a public records request. White’s attorney, Jill Craft, had mentioned during a news conference last week that the police chief signed the affidavit. White will appeal his firing in a public hearing at 9 a.m. Monday on the third floor of City Hall, 222 St. Louis St. —Adam Pearson