Councilwoman defends herself in tweet following speech by CMPD wife

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotte City Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield backed up her comments on Twitter on Thursday morning, hours after wives of police officers confronted her for calling their husbands terrorists.

Family members of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department officers came to their defense Wednesday night after Mayfield compared officers to terrorists.

"What you communicated out to the world about police officers is not true," said Anne Steppe, an officer's wife. “My husband is not a terrorist."

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Steppe spoke in front of City Council on behalf of a group of CMPD wives, directing her attention straight at Councilwoman LaWana Mayfield.

"Here I stand,” Steppe said. “Here we stand up against your abuse of power and position to bring to light what you communicated out to the world about police officers is not true."

Steppe referred to a tweet that Mayfield published in March, which recently resurfaced. "Being black in America under #45 has created homegrown terrorist wearing blue uniforms," Mayfield tweeted.

The tweet did not sit well with many officers or their spouses.

It is insulting "for someone to be chastising him and calling him a terrorist,” said Chrissy Elder, who is also the wife of a police officer.

CMPD wives wore custom shirts and some of their children held signs showing support for their homegrown heroes.

The T-shirts read, “My husband is not a terrorist. My husband is my hero.”

"To group law enforcement officers as terrorists was demeaning and extremely hurtful," CMPD wife Angie Rangolan said.

"While we're trying to build up our community, comments like that don't help," Steppe said.

Mayfield did not address the group but tweeted again Thursday morning, prompting fresh calls for her resignation.

She tweeted, "To ALL OF YOU talking nonsense about my posts, forget YOU. A black man can't drink in his own garage, can't drive down the street, car can't break down, can't walk in a store without being killed by someone in a police uniform. So who is going work to remove the BAD cops? #IWILL"

Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt rebuked Mayfield's latest comment with her own tweet saying, “I state EMPHATICALLY that I reject the comments of Councilwoman Mayfield... it is wrong to characterize ALL officers with racism and violence."

Mayfield responded, “I never said all police are corrupt."

Councilman Tariq Bokhari showed his support for police at a station roll call Thursday morning and weighed in on the latest Mayfield controversy.

“I'm not saying the topic isn't valid,” Bokhari said. “I'm saying the way it's being delivered is completely inappropriate.”

Social media lit up Thursday with fresh calls for Mayfield to resign.

“Would I like to see her step down? Sure, if this attitude continues, because it's not gonna help anything,” Steppe said.

Another tweet from Mayfield said she was planning to have "community talks" about the issue. She did not respond to interview requests and had no public appearances.

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