In its Jan. 26 editorial, the newspaper’s editorial staff imagined that U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins might have something reasonable to say about the necessity of due process and equal protection in immigration enforcement in the wake of the deaths of Minneapolitans Renee Good and Alex Pretti at the hands of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The newspaper cited Higgins’ “background in local law enforcement” as a source of wisdom that he might provide.
It is time for the media to quit portraying Higgins as some sort of “top cop.” It is true that Higgins was employed by the Opelousas Police Department from 2004 to 2007. His SWAT unit was disbanded after he and a colleague were caught on a convenience store camera, purchasing alcoholic beverages while on duty. He was also investigated for using unnecessary force in beating a suspect who was unarmed, already in handcuffs and later released for no wrongdoing. Higgins resigned before disciplinary action could be taken. He called his police chief a “peacock, a colorful, flightless bird.”
From Opelousas, Higgins bounced to the Port Barre Police from 2007 to 2010. Very little is known of his time there, but his tenure was as brief as it was with Opelousas police. From 2011 to 2016, Higgins was employed with the St. Landry Parish Sheriff’s Office as a public relations officer. There, he rose to cultural notice with bounty videos of alleged gang members. His superior, the sheriff, told him to “tone it down” and to “put his big boy pants on” for putting a “target on the back” of fellow officers. Higgins again resigned just as disciplinary measures were being taken…