RICHMOND, Ky. (LEX 18) — A Madison County politician is receiving criticism on social media after attending the events at the capitol Wednesday. Krystin Arnold posted a picture of herself and tagged the United States Capitol. A former commissioner shared the photo, along with her thoughts on an elected official being a part of the crowd.
Arnold, a commissioner in Richmond, posted a photo of herself outside of the U.S. Capitol on her Facebook page.
Former Berea Commissioner, Emily LaDouceur, says when she initially saw the photo, she thought it wasn't a big deal. That's because LaDouceur is familiar with receiving criticism for political beliefs while in office, like when she attended a Black Lives Matter peaceful protest.
"There was one person holding a ACAB sign, All Cops Are Bad, that suddenly became the biggest hullabaloo, I got death threats from that. For just being at the same place as someone holding a sign," LaDouceur said.
But once rioters sieged the capitol, LaDouceur says Arnold's silence on social media became deafening.
"For me, I have way more respect for people who are like, 'you know what, probably wasn't the best place for me to be. Or say, I didn't know that was going to happen. I'm sorry y'all. I would never encourage overthrowing our government," LaDouceur said.
LaDouceur says when you serve, you lead your community by example.
"You have to answer for your actions and people are going to be watching you. Sometimes it's fair and sometimes it's not."
We reached out to Arnold repeatedly but have not heard back. She did do an interview with The Richmond Register, where she told a reporter that she spent the morning listening to speeches at the rally and only learned about what happened later in the day as she was driving back to Richmond.
