‘Is This the N—er Chief?’: Black Cop In Mostly White West Virginia Town Says He Received Text Declaring ‘This Means War’ After Becoming Chief, Discrimination Lawsuit Says

Lamon Simpson, 31, took the job in the mostly white Town of Rivesville, population 830, in September 2021, becoming the town’s first full-time police chief and, at the time, its only police officer. Early on, town officials lauded his performance. Councilman Frank Moore “spoke approvingly of Simpson” at a town meeting in February of 2022, reported the Times West Virginian. “He’s displayed that he really wants to be a member of this community, Moore said. “He’s making an effort, visiting schools, he’s out talking to kids and he’s doing a good job. Being a police officer today is not easy.”   But things soon turned sour between Simpson and town officials. Lamon Simpson was hired as the police chief of the mostly white Town of Rivesville, West Virginia, in September 2021. (Photos: LinkedIn/Lamon Simpson, Google Maps) In a conversation with Mayor Barbara Beatty at the town hall, she “indicated to Officer Simpson … that if he could not handle being called the ‘N-word,’ he should reconsider his position because he was going to hear this term during his employment,” his complaint against Rivesville filed in Marion County Circuit Court in June alleges. As he continued in his position, more discriminatory comments...