Bubba Copeland shot himself in front of police on Friday, days after he begged 1819 News not to expose his private life.

A small-town Alabama pastor and mayor killed himself Friday, days after a local conservative news website published a story that included photos of him wearing women’s clothing and makeup.

F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, who was the mayor of Smiths Station and the pastor at First Baptist Church in Phenix City, shot himself in front of police during a welfare check, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Copeland’s private life was exposed Wednesday by the conservative blog 1819 News, which was once owned by the right-wing Alabama Policy Institute and whose top editor is a former Breitbart News contributor.

    • theangryseal@lemmy.world
      85·
      9 months ago

      It’s even worse than that. No one knows the story at all but they all have a fully developed opinion from reading the headline.

      Maybe some of the locals whose children he posted to pornographic websites won’t miss him.

      Maybe the local businesswoman he obsessed over while he wrote stories about killing her, seducing her husband, and stealing her life won’t miss him.

      It is scary how easy it is to get people to rally over things they know nothing about. I’m not holier than thou either. I’ve caught myself reacting before thinking.

      Edit: I want to make it clear that I wish this person had got help. I definitely feel empathy for this person, I just don’t think that the cross dressing is the primary issue here. This person was public figure posting deranged and terrible things online using real people from his town as objects of fantasy.