Wilmington News Station WECT broke the story Wednesday that Columbus County Sheriff Jody Greene was recorded in February 2019 making racially-charged comments to Jason Soles, then a Captain who had just been tapped as the temporary leader of the department. Greene’s tenure as sheriff was clouded with controversy from the get-go, beginning with a challenge to whether the recreational vehicle located on farmland he owned in Columbus County was his residence, an issue decided in Greene’s favor by the state elections board. That challenge led to the naming of Soles as caretaker for the department while the elections issues were sorted. Keep reading for more on this story. Greene had bested former Sheriff Lewis Hatcher, an African-American, by 34 votes in the November 2018 election. Shortly after taking office, Greene fired Sergeant Melvin Campbell, also an African-American, whom Greene, a retired first sergeant with the State Highway Patrol, had supervised during Campbell’s 30-year career with the State Highway Patrol. In the recorded call, Greene reportedly wanted to know who in the office had communicated with Hatcher and Campbell, stating: “I’m sick of it. I’m sick of these Black bastards. . . . I’m going to clean house and be done with it. And we’ll start from there.” Greene reportedly went on to say that he was going to start firing people who were “guilty by f**king association” with Campbell and Hatcher, elaborating: “We’ll cut the snake’s head f**king off. Period. And Melvin Campbell is as big a snake as Lewis Hatcher [...]
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