Committee demands resignation over racial slur

Cathy Scott

Tuesday, Feb. 3, 1998 | 3:17 a.m.

While standing in the plaza at City Hall today, members of the Martin Luther King Committee called for the immediate resignation of the Police Protective Association's vice president for a racial slur he made last month at a cadet academy class.

Joining the committee at a press conference were representatives of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Nevada Voters League, the Las Vegas Urban Leadership Forum, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens and the American Civil Liberties Union.

Wendell Williams, a state assemblyman and a member of the Martin Luther King Committee, said that Metro Police Officer Dan Holley's slip of the tongue last month while speaking to 36 cadets was "disappointing." Holley referred to the national holiday honoring the slain civil rights leader as "Martin Luther Coon" day. Twenty-one cadets complained to their supervisor.

"The Martin Luther King Committee was founded in Las Vegas 17 years ago," Williams told reporters. "After 17 years, it's astounding and disappointing that this could be said."

He also said he was disturbed that Holley received an oral reprimand by the department, punishment he called not severe enough. He said he is asking Sheriff Jerry Keller to meet in the next 48 hours with committee representatives to review Metro's policies and practices regarding such behavior and to ask Keller to reconsider Holley's punishment.

"From the Martin Luther King Committee's standpoint, we think the administration rushed to judgment in his punishment. We want to sit down with the sheriff and come up with an appropriate punishment. We're unhappy and displeased."

Undersheriff Dick Winget said after the news conference that Keller spoke with Williams Monday night and that the sheriff plans to meet with the black leaders.

In fact, Winget noted, "He wanted to meet with them before the press conference but it apparently wasn't workable."

Williams called the remark "outrageous" and one he and his colleagues "will not stand for."

"Sheriff Keller needs to know that this situation and this incident is not over," Williams said.

Williams said he would be joining the Black Officers Association on Thursday evening at a rally at the PPA's headquarters during a general membership meeting of the union.

Rev. Jesse Scott with the Nevada Voters League said that he and fellow black leaders "are baffled, astounded and embarrassed by this incident."

Holley was elected three years ago to the PPA post. He has publicly refused to resign. The PPA is the union that represents the rank-and-file officers at Metro.

Lawrence Weekly, president of the local Martin Luther King Committee, said he was speaking "on behalf of all the young people who feel very hurt and distraught over Officer Holley's remark."

Rev. James Rogers, president of the local NAACP, emphasized that white Nevadans should be just as outraged as he is.

"His remark has catapulted us into the late 1950s and 1960s," he said.

Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU, said he believes the remark "tells us something about the culture of the department, that Officer Holley felt comfortable saying what he said."

"Sheriff Keller needs to make a forceful statement to his department and to the community that this won't be tolerated," he said.

Winget and Keller this morning addressed the cadets who were present at the Clark County Detention Center when Holley made the remark, Winget said.

"We commended them for their courage in stepping forward," Winget said. "We encouraged them to keep a high level of integrity throughout their entire careers and thanked them for their help. They were very receptive."