Editor’s Note: Anne Artis, of Coal Grove, sent the following letter to the mayor of the Village of Port William and also submitted it to The Tribune as a letter to the editor:

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Honorable Mayor,
My name is Anne Artis, and I am a native of Ironton. I lived in Ironton 12 years ago when a gruesome killing took place. A police officer ran over a man and dragged him many blocks under his cruiser, even fishtailing on Washington Street in an attempt to dislodge the man from beneath his vehicle, as was evidenced by the victim’s belongings being strewn around that street in the ice and snow. This officer continued to the the station and had to walk over the blood of the victim to enter the station. There was a “technicality” in charging and the officer was never held to any account for this blatant depraved indifference to the life of another human being. He left our town and most people forgot this injustice.

The victim’s name is Guy Thomas, a black man. The officer’s name is Rich Fouts.

As you can imagine with what’s going on today in our country, the failure of law enforcement and the criminal justice system to exact justice for Mr. Thomas has again been brought to the fore.

I was shocked to hear that this man is your current chief of police. I wanted to write to you and bring this to your attention because, surely, you had no idea of the character or history of this man when you took office.

I suggest that you take a look at his Facebook page and any other social media accounts he might have. I have screenshots of some of his posts on Facebook, and I can’t imagine you and the good people of Port William would want to have such a person as a community leader.

I thank you for taking the time to read my letter.

Respectfully,
Anne Artis
Coal Grove