A couple thousand lawyers, including prominent leaders of the State Bar of Texas, used Facebook and other social media outlets this weekend to blast comments made by newly installed bar president Larry McDougal in a 2015 Facebook post calling the group Black Lives Matter “a terrorist group.”
Scores of Texas lawyers demanded his resignation.
But dozens and dozens of attorneys from across the state either applauded or defended McDougal’s comments about Black Lives Matter.
McDougal, a Fort Bend County criminal defense attorney who was sworn in three weeks ago as the president of the Texas Bar, issued a three-minute video Saturday afternoon on YouTube apologizing for his comments and stating that he no longer believes that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization.
Current and past leaders of the State Bar issued a one-page statement denouncing the Facebook post.
“Online comments made by Larry McDougal regarding #BlackLivesMatter do not reflect the values of the State Bar of Texas and we denounce them in the strongest terms. As leaders of the 105,000-member State Bar of Texas and the 26,000-member Texas Young Lawyers Association, we are united against racism and dedicated to the bar’s mission of advancing diversity and inclusion in the administration of justice and the practice of law. Indeed, we applaud any organization whose primary goal seeks to ensure equal justice for all Americans.”
In a Sept. 7, 2015 post on Facebook discussing election laws and public access to polling places, McDougal, who held no state bar leadership position at the time, made the following comment:
“The news media has waged war on law enforcement officers in the aftermath of several highly publicized killings. Groups like Black Lives Matter has publicly called for the death of not just police officers but also White Americans. This is a terrorist group.”
McDougal appeared to deactivate his Facebook page Saturday evening.
But he posted a 3-minute and 8-second video on YouTube apologizing and promising to do better.
“I understand that my comments, although not how I intended them, have been hurtful to many members of our bar,” McDougal said. “For that, I am truly sorry. I sincerely regret that my words reflected negatively in anyway on our state bar leadership, its volunteers and staff and to any of you.
“I apologize and I pledge to do better and I am sincere when I say that,” he continued. “Let me be clear: As a Texas attorney who is sworn to uphold the constitution of this state and the United States, I denounce racism in any and all forms.”
“In 2015 … I did make a comment in an online blog where I referred to Black Lives Matter as a terrorist group. I want to assure you that those comments do not reflect my beliefs today. They changed quite a while back.”
McDougal promised to establish a task force to “eradicate social injustice.”
“I apologize and I don’t know what else I can say,” he concluded. Here is a link to the video.
The State Bar’s Facebook page cited more than 1,200 comments from its members late Saturday.
State Bar past president Randy Sorrels, a Houston trial lawyer, had more than 165 comments on his Facebook page Sunday morning and the debate was lively.
Dozens of lawyers came to McDougal’s defense – and not just his First Amendment right to state his opinion but actually defending the substance of his statement.
A labor and employment law shareholder at a Houston firm said, “we should all stop pandering to this organization” and “we should not support BLM. Period.” The managing partner of the Houston office of a small national law firm called Black Lives Matter “a Marxist organization” and said, “we are heading toward a French Revolution or Soviet style society if we keep throwing everyone over the cliff for unpopular opinions.”
Another lawyer said he was “embarrassed” that McDougal had to give an apology. Two lawyers seemed to criticize state bar officials for not denouncing “looting, burning, rioting and the murdering of police offices.”
Each of these posts received several “thumbs up” from others.
The vast majority of those commenting, however, agreed that McDougal’s opinion, while protected by the First Amendment, should be adamantly denounced.
“You need to lay off the crazy talk, put your tin foil hat back on and focus on the equality side of BLM. They aren’t pushing the elimination of property rights,” a lawyer fired back at those supporting McDougal’s comments.
“[McDougal or anyone else can say whatever the hell they want,” wrote another. “However, they are not free from the consequences of those words.”