Sen. Theis irate that “Howell should burn” tweeter wasn’t fired; makes her case to woman’s employer

State Sen. Lana Theis wants a state employee to be fired for tweeting in May that Howell should be the “first city to burn in Michigan” in the wake of nationwide protests against the George Floyd murder.

In response, businesses in Howell closed and were boarded up when a protest was scheduled to take place a few days later. Theis pointed out that as a result of the tweet, folks in Howell were terrified for several days that their city might be attacked. The tweet was made by a woman named Damia Morse tweeting under the user name @WowDamia. She’s an employee at the Center for Forensic Psychiatry in Saline, and following an investigation into the tweet, Morse only received a 10-day unpaid suspension.

In a story in the MIRS political newsletter, they said that Theis took time at a Senate hearing on Wednesday to tell Morse’s employer she should have been fired.

“This was a very real threat to safety and any reasonable person would have known that,” Theis was quoted by MIRS as saying during today’s Senate Oversight Committee meeting, which spent about an hour interviewing Liza Estlund Olson on the COVID-19 impact on state employees. “It seriously concerns me that this person is still on staff with the state.”

Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt said he’s still considering terrorism charges in the case.

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.

4 Comments

  1. And me being from Howell and white…..had I said that about Detroit???? What would have happened to me by now?

  2. And vailliencourt Has yet to bring charges, another reason he needs to go! Can’t wait to vote him out on Tuesday

  3. Vailliencourt inaction? Another reason why I voted for Reader and look forward to Vailliencourt getting voted oout of office Tuesday

  4. It’s good that our elected officials talk about this incident, but they can talk all they want; she still works for the State. Where’s the action ??

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