# "Kentucky lawmaker facing assault allegations kills himself" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475 "2017-12-14T04:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/1 "2017-12-14T04:21:23Z")
OMG. [Kentucky lawmaker facing assault allegations kills himself](https://a.msn.com/r/2/BBGHXFY?m=en-us) > [@](#): > > FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — Dan Johnson, a Republican state lawmaker in Kentucky known for inflammatory Facebook posts comparing Barack and Michelle Obama to monkeys and who defiantly denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in the basement of his home, killed himself Wednesday night. He was 57. > > Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell said Johnson shot himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, Kentucky. Tinnell confirmed the death to WDRB-TV in Louisville. > > Johnson was elected to the state legislature in 2016, part of a wave of Republican victories that gave the GOP control of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the first time in nearly 100 years. He won his election despite Republican leaders urging him to drop out of the race after some of his racist Facebook posts came to light. > … > On Tuesday, Johnson held a news conference in the pulpit of his church, which he began by leading friends and family in singing a portion of the Christmas carol “O Come All Ye Faithful.” He said the allegations against him were “totally false” and said they were part of a nationwide strategy of defeating conservative Republicans. He referenced Republican Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore, who faces accusations of sexual misconduct from multiple women. > > Shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Johnson posted a message on his Facebook page that he asked people to care for his wife. He wrote that PTSD “is a sickness that will take my life, I cannot handle it any longer. It has won this life, BUT HEAVEN IS MY HOME.” The post appears to have been removed. > … :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/2 "2017-12-14T04:32:40Z")
Good riddance. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/3 "2017-12-14T04:33:38Z")
Is it the same Dan Johnson who put up photoshopped images of the Obamas that made them look like chimps? The same guy who literally wore the confederate flag? The same guy who was like super Christian? > **[Kentucky House candidate making no apologies for shocking Facebook posts](https://www.wdrb.com/news/politics/kentucky-house-candidate-making-no-apologies-for-shocking-facebook-posts/article_ae0c4e4f-e1c2-5d48-a069-0ce2bccda13a.html)** > > Republican Dan Johnson says the posts are not meant to be offensive. Maybe the world is a better place without him? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/4 "2017-12-14T04:44:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday, Johnson posted a message on his Facebook page that he asked people to care for his wife. He wrote that PTSD “is a sickness that will take my life, I cannot handle it any longer. It has won this life, BUT HEAVEN IS MY HOME.” The post appears to have been removed. Whatever happened to giving your troubles to God? ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/5 "2017-12-14T07:04:55Z")
He was a pretty messed up guy, and clearly miserable. I’m certain that whoever taught him to base his self-esteem on his skin color did him no favors. He never learned to build self-esteem by doing good in the world. He didn’t learn to pick up some charity work or find another way to help his fellow man when he was feeling down. This kind of hate-motivated lifestyle doesn’t lead to happiness. I’ve never known a happy bigot. And now with these charges before him, I’m sure he wasn’t up to facing the consequences of his actions. A terrible waste of a life all around, but then he was wasting it before he ended it. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/6 "2017-12-14T07:19:42Z")
Yuck. This guy was passing himself off as some type of “evangelical” pastor? Or did I misunderstand something. Because I don’t recall any church parties growing up where it would have been okay if the pastor showed up drunk and tried to finger-bang his teenage daughter’s friend. Not. A. Single. One. > [@](#): > > The parishioner, now 21, said that in the early hours of Jan. 1, 2013, after a New Year’s Eve party at the church, she and Mr. Johnson’s daughter slept over at an apartment below the fellowship hall. After falling asleep on a sofa, she said, she woke up to find Mr. Johnson — who was drunk after going to a bar earlier in the night — kneeling over her. He proceeded to kiss her, grope her breasts under her shirt, put his hand down her pants and penetrate her with his finger, she said. [linky](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/us/dan-johnson-kentucky-suicide.html) ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/7 "2017-12-14T07:31:09Z")
[He had a lot in his past.](http://longcon.kycir.org/) Among them, he may have burned down his church in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/8 "2017-12-14T11:45:58Z")
Wait–are we sure that it wasn’t [a Hadji](https://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/kentucky-gop-denounces-candidate-over-racist-facebook-posts) that got him? ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 11:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/9 "2017-12-14T11:59:42Z")
"…comparing Barack and Michelle Obama to monkeys. " This is the first I’ve heard of him. The world will spin around without him, the shitbag. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/10 "2017-12-14T12:28:27Z")
And of course, he immediately reached for the gaslight and tried to pretend that really, his images weren’t racist … in fact, it would have been racist not to give “the same scrutiny” to the Obamas that other, whiter, presidents received. [https://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/kentucky-gop-denounces-candidate-over-racist-facebook-posts](https://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/kentucky-gop-denounces-candidate-over-racist-facebook-posts) > [@Dan Johnson](#): > > “It wasn’t meant to be racist,” Johnson told WDRB when asked about the images. “I can tell you that. My history’s good there. I can see how people would be offended in that. I wasn’t trying to offend anybody, but, I think Facebook’s entertaining.” > > Johnson went on to say that there “has been no president that hasn’t had that scrutiny” and that “it would be racist not to do the same” for Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/11 "2017-12-14T12:35:17Z")
> [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](#): > > Yuck. > > This guy was passing himself off as some type of “evangelical” pastor? Or did I misunderstand something. Because I don’t recall any church parties growing up where it would have been okay if the pastor showed up drunk and tried to finger-bang his teenage daughter’s friend. > > Not. A. Single. One. > > [linky](https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/13/us/dan-johnson-kentucky-suicide.html) It may have been a simple case of mistaken identity. In the dark and in his drunken state he probably thought he was trying to finger-bang his daughter. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/12 "2017-12-14T12:36:19Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > He was a pretty messed up guy, and clearly miserable. I’m certain that whoever taught him to base his self-esteem on his skin color did him no favors. He never learned to build self-esteem by doing good in the world. He didn’t learn to pick up some charity work or find another way to help his fellow man when he was feeling down. > > This kind of hate-motivated lifestyle doesn’t lead to happiness. I’ve never known a happy bigot. And now with these charges before him, I’m sure he wasn’t up to facing the consequences of his actions. > > A terrible waste of a life all around, but then he was wasting it before he ended it. Perfectly stated. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/13 "2017-12-14T12:37:36Z")
Killed himself on a bridge, huh? I hope drivers weren’t overly inconvenienced. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/14 "2017-12-14T12:39:01Z")
He was a disturbed horrible person. I’ll not grieve his death. Reaching the level of dancing on his grave? Can’t join in the party. Bin Laden he wasn’t. Even horrible people often had those who loved them and who will grieve their passing. Condolences to any of those that exist. Suicide often screws up those left behind. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/15 "2017-12-14T12:55:53Z")
Hm. Apparently his “PTSD” [is that 9/11 happened](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/12/14/us/14xp-johnson-screenshot/14xp-johnson-screenshot-jumbo.png). Not that he was there or anything, just that it happened. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/16 "2017-12-14T13:04:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Hm. Apparently his “PTSD” [is that 9/11 happened](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/12/14/us/14xp-johnson-screenshot/14xp-johnson-screenshot-jumbo.png). Not that he was there or anything, just that it happened. He claimed to have been there, and to have set up his own morgue, where he gave the last rites to every body pulled from the rubble. He may have also been receiving worker’s compensation benefits related to that claim. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/17 "2017-12-14T13:05:40Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Hm. Apparently his “PTSD” [is that 9/11 happened](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2017/12/14/us/14xp-johnson-screenshot/14xp-johnson-screenshot-jumbo.png). Not that he was there or anything, just that it happened. I was wondering about that. Classy dude to the last … ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/18 "2017-12-14T13:06:38Z")
My condolences to his family. As for the man himself… well, I was raised to speak only good of the dead. He’s dead. Good. ---
**Author:** ![Slash1972](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slash1972/32/6461_2.png) [@Slash1972](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slash1972)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/19 "2017-12-14T13:12:50Z")
How can he say “Heaven is my home”? Don’t people who commit suicide go to hell? Oh right, he was a moron. ---
**Author:** ![MacCat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maccat/32/216_2.png) [@MacCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacCat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2017, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475/20 "2017-12-14T13:19:39Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Maybe the world is a better place without him? No maybe about it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kentucky-lawmaker-facing-assault-allegations-kills-himself/804475.md?page=2)