RI republican to hold ECHO Village press conference in wake of senator’s controversial Facebook post

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Rhode Island House Minority Leader Michael Chippendale will hold a press conference Wednesday regarding ECHO Village.

The republican leader says he has questions regarding the pallet shelter project.

Chippendale said the press conference will revolve around “His efforts to obtain documents pertaining to the set-up operations of ECHO Village.”

The focus on ECHO Village comes as a state senator has received backlash due to her now-deleted Facebook post that many have called racist.

The Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American and pacific islander caucus is among those calling out the statement.

On March 14, the caucus posted a screenshot of state senator Elaine Morgan’s Facebook post, where she said she attempted to visit ECHO Village.

The post said in part “I was not welcome. I was told by a Big Rolly Poly Dark skinned man…”

Morgan also claimed the “gated community” reeked of cannabis.

The caucus made a post Friday calling the senator’s remarks “uninformed and offensive.”