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A Louisiana sheriff’s deputy died by suicide on Monday after recording and posting to social media videos of himself condemning institutionalized racism and describing his struggle as a Black law enforcement officer in a system that he says condones police brutality against Black people.
Lafayette Parish Deputy Clyde Kerr III, 43, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, according to a preliminary coroner’s report. He was outside the Lafayette Parish Sheriff’s Office, according to Capt. John Mowell.
Kerr became a deputy in 2015, Mowell said.
He was a New Orleans native, Army veteran and father of two boys.
My New Orleans
02/01/2021
Life in Louisiana’s Acadian parishes is colorful, yet, the internationally acclaimed Lafayette photographer Lucius Fontenot is an artist who sees timeless spiritual rhythms and beauty in the gray shadows of Louisiana’s Cajun culture.
“I love how unique, beautiful, strange, stubborn and joyous Louisiana is,” says Fontenot. “There is always something new to discover. A new image, a new story that leads me to a better understanding of not only who we are but how we got there. Louisiana is a great love of mine. I will always create work about her.”
Born in 1978, Fontenot grew up in Mamou to parents who were professional photographers. He studied art at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and later returned home to work in his parents’ studio. Though Fontenot studied painting in college, it was in photography and in the Louisiana Acadian culture that he found artistic expression.