JONESBORO -- Mayor Harold Perrin has suspended the Jonesboro Parks and Recreation director for two weeks after what the mayor called a "racially insensitive" message the director posted on his personal Twitter account.
Wixson Huffstetler's suspension without pay will end July 28. He also will be required to attend a sensitivity training seminar, said William Campbell, a spokesman for the city.
Huffstetler, who was hired as Jonesboro's parks and recreation director in September 2010, sent a tweet Sunday evening in response to a Black Lives Matter protest in Memphis that resulted in the closure of Interstate 40 between Arkansas and Tennessee for several hours.
Huffstetler included a picture of protesters and wrote: "And they wonder why they are profiled." He added the hashtag "idiots" after the tweet, Campbell said.
About 30 people were able to see Huffstetler's Twitter comment. One person who runs a nonprofit black radio station in Jonesboro shared the comment on his Facebook page.
"It grew fast," Campbell said of the attention to Huffstetler's comment. "The word was all over town. We received several negative responses."
Campbell said two teams in the city's summer basketball program refused to play games in protest of Huffstetler's comments this week.
Huffstetler apologized for his comments in a statement released by the city Wednesday evening.
"I love my job serving all youth in Jonesboro's parks and rec department," he said in the statement. "And I hope to rebuild any lost confidence in me."
Campbell said Huffstetler indicated he wrote the message in anger after hearing an erroneous television report that the Memphis protest kept a child from being transported to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis for heart transplant surgery because of the blocked interstate.
"Wixson is a big supporter of children and has done a lot of fundraising for St. Jude," Campbell said. "He acted emotionally when he heard that. He lashed out in response to that."
Campbell said he learned later that the story of the child needing surgery was fictitious.
Perrin said in the news release that he reviewed the city's policy about making political or insensitive statements.
The policy prohibits "conduct of any nature adversely affecting the City's best interests and reputation."
Perrin said the suspension was warranted.
"It contradicts what we stand for, which is a Jonesboro that serves all citizens equally," the mayor said in the statement regarding Huffstetler's comment.
Huffstetler is not the first city employee to be suspended for comments made on social media.
Former Jonesboro Police Chief Michael Yates resigned Aug. 25, 2014, after he was suspended without pay for 30 days for making critical comments about a local newspaper reporter on his private Facebook page.
Earlier this year, the city's E911 director was ordered to remove Bible verses he posted on the E911 center's Facebook page. Director Jeff Presley said the city received an Arkansas attorney general's opinion later that said the posting of verses was acceptable and Presley includes them on his page occasionally.
Campbell said Huffstetler wrote on his Twitter account that his views were personal and not made as a city employee, but Campbell said Huffstetler still violated city policy.
"When you work for the city, you represent the city 24 hours a day," Campbell said. "Wixson is a nice guy, but nice guys make bad mistakes."
State Desk on 07/16/2016