Social media post reported to Anti-Defamation League

Everett Harris, Caddo’s director of animal services and mosquito control, has been placed on paid administrative leave, administrator Woody Wilson confirmed Wednesday.

Wilson said the parish has contracted a third-party to investigate a post Harris uploaded to the animal services Facebook page Tuesday. It has been removed.

“We can’t comment too much on it because we don’t want to prejudice the investigation or degrade the process,” Wilson said. “Director Harris is on paid administrative leave right now pending the outcome of the investigation of the incident that occurred yesterday.”

The post featured an image of an altered newspaper clipping with Stars of David drawn on the photos of six dogs and Nazi symbols placed above them. The intended message behind the altered image still is unclear.

Wilson, via telephone, and Harris, in the apology posted Tuesday, said the newspaper clipping was received via mail. Wilson denied the animal services director is the source of the original document.

Still, members of the Jewish community and others found the Facebook post featuring the image of the altered newspaper clipping and its reference to Nazism and the Holocaust troubling.

“Every time I see Nazi-something I think that looks terrible and somewhat threatening so I let the FBI know,” said Rabbi Jana De Benedetti of Shreveport’s B’nai Zion Congregation.

De Benedetti called the image featured in the post “horribly offensive” though she isn’t sure what was meant to be accomplished when it was altered.

“Anytime anyone equates anything with Nazis is a horrible thing,” she said. “It’s unspeakable. The fact that they were implying that euthanasizing dogs and Jews belong in the same breath for any reason is terrible.”

Like many, she saw screen shots of the Facebook post circulating after the original had been removed from the Caddo Parish Animal Services and Mosquito Control’s page.

“Everybody started reposting this picture that I was glad was down. I thought ‘Doesn’t that seem kind of counter-productive?’” she said. “The FBI kind of agreed. We’ve turned this horrible picture which never should have seen the light of day into a viral thing that everybody is getting to see and be horrified by each time they see it.”

The Times has chosen not to re-publish the image online or in print.

De Benedetti said the FBI advised her to complete an online form on the Internet Crime Complaint Center website. The site is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center. She’s not convince anything will come from her report.

She also reported the incident to leadership at Anti-Defamation League’s south central regional office which covers Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas.

ADL’s leadership previously visited B’nai Zion and advised them to reach out if they felt vulnerable or encountered something inappropriate such as the Facebook post, she said.

Allison Padilla-Goodman, ADL’s regional director, said the incident is on their radar and is being monitored.

“The image was particularly disturbing and I was immediately concerned and wanted to understand the context of the post and the circumstances surrounding it. Posts like this trivialize the Holocaust and the atrocities associated with it. ADL will remain actively engaged in working with the community to respond to this situation,” she said via email.

Caddo Commissioner Lyndon B. Johnson told The Times Tuesday it was his understanding the image had been accidentally uploaded.

Harris has had a volatile relationship with some members of the animal rescue community, local news agencies and the general community. Wilson claims Harris has received similar materials via mail and has been the recipient of threatening phone calls and messages.

The parish administrator said Harris maintained a file with documents and recorded calls if they become offensive in nature. The image that made it online was received yesterday along with another document, Wilson said.

He wasn’t sure if the other documents contained similar references to the one that circulated on Facebook.

The parish administrator said he has not been contacted by the ADL or FBI.

De Benedetti said she appreciates the post was quickly removed.

“It certainly showed terrible judgment,” she said of the post. “I would appreciate if there was a way to find out what the intentions of that was and whether it’s also someone threatening Jews in the community because it certainly feels like that.”

@allyburris

Qualified for the job

Caddo Commissioner Matthew Linn alleged Caddo’s Animal Services director Everett Harris received his job via nepotism and was not qualified for the job.

Linn made the comments during a Broadmoor Neighborhood Association meeting held late Tuesday. Caddo Parish administrator Woody Wilson denied the claim.

“That was not true,” he said.

Wilson said two different animal welfare groups helped pick a new director when Harris originally applied. Harris went through the hiring process but former director Matt Pepper was offered the job.

Harris was the No. 2 candidate, Wilson said.

The parish administrator said Harris was offered a job when the assistant director retired months later in 2008. He’s been director of Caddo Parish Animal Services and Mosquito Control since 2010, according to a copy of Harris’ resume on file with the parish.

Prior to working for the parish, Harris served as chief administrative officer for Young Women’s Christian Association Northwest Louisiana before taking the assistant director job.

From 1987 until 2007, he served in the U.S. Army. Harris was a senior drill sergeant, a first sergeant and the deputy director of organizational review and audits.

He has a M.B.A. in finance and business administration from Touro University.