Editorial: Government of Lumbee Tribe an embarrassment

Just when we didn’t think things could get any wackier concerning the Lumbee tribal government, well, they did — and not by a little bit. An accusation by the government’s No. 1 critic that someone tried to kill him, apparently as a way to silence him, is not a laughing matter — unlike the tribe’s hijinks that we have become so weary of reporting, and the people the government was established to serve have become equally weary of reading.

Eric Locklear, a self-ascribed community advocate, never hesitates to point a finger and, after what investigators say was an arson that heavily damaged his Pembroke home on Sunday, his comments make it clear he believes he was targeted for his criticism of the tribal administration, specifically Chairman Paul Brooks. Locklear is currently the head cheerleader in an effort to gather enough signatures on a petition for a recall election that he hopes would unseat Brooks.

We won’t make what is a short leap from there, but we are sure many others already have. And we are reminded of a couple things that stack up against each other: Innocent until proven otherwise, and it’s difficult to unpoint a finger.

The Lumbee tribal government has been an embarrassment now for more than a few years. Brooks was named chairman when Purnell Swett tried to pull the plug on scandal with his resignation. Brooks was then elected to his own three-year term, but he and the Tribal Council have been embroiled in a power struggle since then that has basically been a slow-moving train wreck, often involving the court system, both criminal and civil. Only this week a judge dismissed an assault charge against Brooks that was brought by a former councilwoman.