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"It was egregious indeed" for the Freep to post this, says a Facebook post on behalf of Sen. Bert Johnson, left.
This routine Lansing photo of two Democratic state senators from Detroit is suddenly a toxic embarrassment to one of them.
The shot, which had been innocuous until this weekend, shows Bert Johnson in the background as colleague Virgil Smith speaks at a podium. Johnson now doesn't want to be pictured alongside the criminally charged younger senator, even in blurry soft focus.
When the Detroit Free Press posted the file image online Monday with a report on Smith's arrest after an alleged domestic dispute, Johnson's office says it objected. A member of his communications staff posts this on the senator's Facebook page and tweets a link to it:
Today, the Freep ran a photo of State Sen. Bert Johnson flanking State Sen. Virgil Smith in its online editions, before a representative from our office demanded the picture be removed. Eventually, the Freep cropped Sen. Johnson out of the photo.
While the Freep will say this is a mistake, it was egregious indeed. Certainly in this perilous time, we're hoping that things work for the good. However, State Sen. Johnson has worked diligently to overcome his own personal obstacles -- only to have a media outlet disrespect his persona and image.
Sometimes, when mistakes are made, sorry just isn't enough!
The mention of past obstacles refers to Johnson's armed robbery conviction at age 19. He went on become a father of three who won a Michigan House seat twice and his Senate seat in 2010.
"If you demonstrate that you are, in fact, sorry, you own it, you accept complete responsibility without any complaint, people are willing to give you a shot," the Highland Park resident told John Wisely of the Freep in 2012.
The too-close-for-comfort image he'd rather not see was picked up Monday afternoon from Smith's website by MLive, where it's still posted.
Johnson is 41 and Smith is 35. Until Tuesday afternoon, they were allies in the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus. George Hunter of The Detroit News tells what changed:
Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich, D-Flint, stripped Smith of his committee assignments Tuesday and relieved him of Democratic caucus duties, such as chairing the Michigan Legislative Black Caucus and being the assistant Democratic whip.
"We are responsible for ensuring the people of Michigan, and the people of the 4th Senate District, are represented by a senator who can serve them effectively," Ananich said in a statement.
