Recently, a local drama unfolded around the bigoted social media posts of one Edgar Michael Pelfrey. Edgar, known to most people in the area as Mike Pelfrey, has an established history in the community of Grants Pass of being a semi-sentient, hateful provocateur. Many of us are aware of at least some of his antics.
Edgar has attended city council meetings and used literal 1930s Nazi rhetoric, referring to the homeless as “vermin.”
He has yelled at progressive women at protests, using derogatory and misogynistic language.
He has also pressured county commissioners to let him opt out of the library district he is a part of—twice. The first time resulted in a lawsuit between the county and the library, which the county lost. When it became clear that Edgar couldn’t get removed from the district, he allegedly pressured former Commissioner West to take actions against the library.
Suffice it to say, Edgar is the personification of willful ignorance. And despite this, he managed to get himself appointed to the city budget committee shortly after the current city council was sworn in.
One would think that the character of a person such as Edgar would have prevented him from being placed on such a committee. Unfortunately, it took about eight months before Edgar Michael Pelfrey crossed a line that would potentially result in some semblance of consequences for his behavior.
In July, Edgar posted a series of deeply offensive and racist statements to social media about former President Barack Obama. He posted these messages on Facebook.
One read, “If Obama flees the US to Kenya, do you think he will be accepted back into the spear chucking tribe? #obamaisferalafrican”
Another said, “JoCo Poll. How should Traitors be executed? Firing squad or hanging?” Edgar then commented on his own post, answering, “Both.”
Then, “I can’t wait to see this Sand jockey executed,” accompanied by a picture of Obama.
And, “Any guesses as to what size noose Obama would need?”
The last one read, “My favorite part of the hanging is when the feet wiggle. I hope Obama and Hillary wear comfortable shoes.”
These posts gained attention—likely more than Edgar has ever had before—and not the kind anyone wanted. Screenshots of his social media activity made their way to other platforms, including the Oregon subreddit, where users correctly identified Edgar as a member of the Grants Pass Budget Committee—once again making our Southern Oregon community infamous for something deeply embarrassing.
Perhaps the most serious consequence was the likelihood that the Secret Service reached out to Edgar to assess whether he posed a legitimate threat to a former president. The possibility of a federal investigation may have given him pause.
In the most recent development, Edgar’s comments galvanized community outrage. Dozens of people contacted the city council—by email, phone, and social media—to express their frustration and disgust that someone with such views was serving on a city committee.
There was so much public outcry that the council reluctantly approved a motion to discuss the dismissal of a member of the budget committee at the next business meeting. It was widely assumed who they meant and why.
This is where Edgar chose to fold.
Rather than have the city council publicly acknowledge his bigoted behavior on the record, Edgar resigned. His statement read:
“Good Evening Mayor and City Council,
Please let this be my notice to officially offer my resignation from the Budget Committee for the City of Grants Pass. AMF
Respectfully,
Edgar M. Pelfrey”
The final line—”AMF”—was a thinly veiled acronym for “Adios Mother [expletive],” making the closing signature both contradictory and childish.
It appears Edgar resigned not to spare the city further embarrassment, but to shield himself from the public shame of being formally recognized as the bigot he so often pretends not to be. Had the council moved forward with an official discussion, it would have stripped him of his ability to later claim, “I was just joking,” or “People are too sensitive.”
And that, more than anything, is likely why Edgar walked away—so he could continue to posture as a provocateur and dismiss public outrage as overreaction.
That’s all there is to it… at least until Edgar decides to say or do something outrageously offensive again.