Karl Oliver
Member of the Mississippi House of Representatives
from the 46th district
Assumed office
2016
Personal details
Born (1963-03-24) March 24, 1963[1]
Winona, Mississippi, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLynn Kellum Glenn[1]
Alma materNorthwest Mississippi Community College[1]
OccupationFuneral director[1]
Websitebillstatus.ls.state.ms.us/members/house/oliver.xml

Karl Oliver (born March 24, 1963) is a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives for District 46, which encompasses Carroll, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery, and Webster counties in the north central portion of his state.[2][3]

Oliver resides in his native Winona in Montgomery County. He is a 1981 graduate of Winona High School and Northwest Mississippi Community College in Senatobia. A funeral home director,[2] he has formerly lived in Grenada, Amory, Starkville, Tupelo, and Brandon, Mississippi.[4]

Political career

On August 26, 2015, Oliver defeated Shed Hunger in the Republican primary runoff election for House District 46.[5] Then in the general election, Oliver defeated the Democrat Ken Strachan with 57 percent of the ballots cast.[6]

Taxpayer Pay Raise Act of 2016

Oliver supported the Taxpayer Pay Raise Act of 2016, and suggested to an Illinois-born Mississippian who was critical of the bill that she might consider returning to her native state.[7][8]

Statement in favor of lynching

On May 20, 2017, Oliver submitted a Facebook post stating that the Louisiana lawmakers who supported the removal of Confederate monuments and memorials in their state "should be LYNCHED".[9][10] He made the statement following the removal of the Robert E. Lee Monument, the last of a group of Confederate monuments removed from New Orleans, Louisiana.[11] His statement compared the removal of monuments to Nazi book burnings.[9] House Speaker Philip Gunn condemned Oliver's statement, and stripped him of his vice-chairmanship of the House Forestry Committee.[12][13]

On May 22, 2017, Oliver apologized, after his statement caused national outrage.[14] Oliver's district includes the town of Money, where African American teenager Emmett Till was lynched.[11]

The Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus, Mississippi NAACP, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger newspaper, and the Southern Poverty Law Center have called for Oliver to resign for his statements. The ACLU of Mississippi has called for Oliver's statement to be investigated for violations of either the state Code of Ethics or the rules of the legislature.[15][16][17][18]

War on Terror

Oliver has stated his perspective that the policies of the Obama Administration made the US less secure against terrorism, and accused the Administration of "aiding in transporting these same Muslim extremist into our nation".[19]

School choice

Oliver has supported school choice, and was given an "A" ranking on the issue by Enpower Mississippi in the group's 2016 Education Report Card.[20][21]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Karl Oliver". Mississippi House of Representatives. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  2. 1 2 "Karl Oliver". Mississippi House of Representatives. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017.
  3. ↑ "Rep. Karl Oliver apologizes for saying "They should be lynched" in Facebook post". WJTV. May 22, 2017. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. The Facebook Post that was made on May 20, addressed the recent removal of Confederate monuments in Louisiana. The Republican represents District 46 – Carroll, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery, Webster counties.
  4. ↑ "Karl Oliver". Intelius.org. Retrieved August 20, 2017.
  5. ↑ The Associated Press (August 26, 2015). "The Latest: 3 House primary runoffs too close to call". The Washington Times. Retrieved May 22, 2017. Karl Oliver has won the Republican primary runoff in House District 46 in parts of Carroll, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery and Webster counties. Oliver defeated Shed Hunger on Tuesday and will face Democrat Ken Strachan in the general election.
  6. ↑ Ferguson, Amanda Sexton; Butts, Tish (November 6, 2015). "Karl Oliver wins house seat". Winona Times. Retrieved May 22, 2017. In the highly-contested race for the District 46 House of Representatives seat, Republican Karl Oliver won the seat over Democratic challenger Ken Strachan with 57 percent of the vote.
  7. ↑ "State Rep. tells Mississippi resident 'I could care less'". WJTV. March 18, 2017. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Rep. Oliver replied to her note and said "I could care less" in his response. He also mentioned that Guidry is not a Mississippi native and he "recommended that there are a rather large number of like-minded citizens in Illinois that would love to see [her] return."
  8. ↑ Guidry, Becky (March 17, 2016). "Becky Guidry - I have never been much involved in politics, but I..." Facebook. Well, today I got a whopper of a response from an email I sent out to the MS Reps last week. It seems that I don't count since I was not born & bred here.
  9. 1 2 Dreher, Arielle; Ladd, Donna. "UPDATED: State Rep. Karl Oliver Calls for Lynching Over Statues, Now Apologizes". Jackson Free Press. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. "The destruction of these monuments, erected in the loving memory of our family and fellow Southern Americans, is both heinous and horrific. If the, and I use this term extremely loosely, "leadership" of Louisiana wishes to, in a Nazi-ish fashion, burn books or destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY, they should be LYNCHED! Let it be known, I will do all in my power to prevent this from happening in our State," the Winona Republican wrote.
  10. ↑ Rhodan, Mary (May 22, 2017). "Politicians Who Destroy Confederate Symbols 'Should Be Lynched,' a Mississippi Lawmaker Says". Time. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017. A Mississippi State Legislator wrote an incendiary Facebook post over the weekend in response to the removal of Confederate symbols in New Orleans. Rep. Karl Oliver, a Republican from Winona, Miss. suggested leaders of the city "should be lynched" if they intend to "destroy historical monuments of OUR HISTORY."
  11. 1 2 Pilkington, Ed (May 22, 2017). "Mississippi lawmaker calls for lynchings after removal of Confederate symbols". The Guardian. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  12. ↑ Dreher, Arielle (May 22, 2017). "Speaker Strips Karl Oliver of Vice-Chairmanship After 'Lynched' Facebook Post". Jackson Free Press. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  13. ↑ Pettus, Emily Wagster (May 22, 2017). "Mississippi lawmaker apologizes for calling for lynching". The Washington Post. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  14. ↑ Wang, Amy B. (May 22, 2017). "Lawmaker apologizes after saying leaders 'should be LYNCHED' for removing Confederate statues". The Washington Post. I, first and foremost, wish to extend this apology for any embarrassment I have caused to both my colleagues and fellow Mississippians. In an effort to express my passion for preserving all historical monuments, I acknowledge the word "lynched" was wrong. I am very sorry. It is in no way, ever, an appropriate term. I deeply regret that I chose this word, and I do not condone the actions I referenced, nor do I believe them in my heart. I freely admit my choice of words was horribly wrong, and I humbly ask your forgiveness.
  15. ↑ "Rep. Karl Oliver should resign after lynching comment: Our View". Mississippi Clarion-Ledger. Retrieved 24 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "MS NAACP says lawmaker Karl Oliver should resign for "lynching" remark". Clarion-Ledger.
  17. ↑ "Mississippi black caucus: Rep. Karl Oliver should resign over lynch comment". Denver Post. 24 May 2017.
  18. ↑ Owens II, Jody (May 22, 2017). "Miss. lawmaker who called to 'lynch' Confederate monument opponents should resign". Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  19. ↑ Sisson, Gwen (September 11, 2016). "Remembering 9-11". Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Mississippi District 46 Representative Karl Oliver said the nation is less secure and national leadership has failed to take an attitude of war with terrorists. "As a community and state, the men and women of our Mississippi Army National Guard (SARNG) have served, protecting our nation both here and abroad after this heinous and cowardly attack on innocent lives, providing a blanket of protection from Muslim extremist terrorism post 9/11 without hesitation, while we sleep comfortably and securely in our beds at night," said Oliver. "Sadly however, our current national leaders refuse to address these same Muslim extremist as enemies. They have caused our nation to be less secure, and now are actually aiding in transporting these same Muslim extremist into our nation. Make no mistake we are still and will continue to be at war with Muslim extremist, and in war you must hate those you are at war against with as much heart as you love those you are fighting to protect. Our leader has failed to recognize this."
  20. ↑ Empower Mississippi. "2016 Education Report Card". Archived from the original on May 22, 2017. Karl Oliver, Republican, A
  21. ↑ "School choice group grades legislators". Webster Progress Times. July 6, 2016. Retrieved May 22, 2017. Sen. Gary Jackson (District 15) and Reps. Joey Hood (District 35) and Karl Oliver (District 46) received an "A" on Empower Mississippi's 2016 Education Report Card, which grades every member of the Legislature on key school choice and education reform votes from the past legislative session.
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