Louisiana environmental official says he was forced to retire

[Rose Siding]

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He believes his firing was precipitated by an incident that happened while he was accompanying one of those groups -- 15 college students from New England -- on a tour of a Baton Rouge neighborhood being bought out by the ExxonMobil refinery. The group was stopped and questioned by law enforcement concerned about homeland security after taking pictures of the plant.

The students from Antioch New England Graduate School in New Hampshire were touring the state to learn about environmental racism, and the photographs were required for their class, said Abigail Abrash Walton, a professor who led the trip.

Walton said the group met Mayor Kip Holden, then drove around looking at industrial plants in the area. When directly across from one facility, the students began taking photos.

"Two or three minutes later, two security vehicles showed up," Walton said, and off-duty Baton Rouge police and East Baton Rouge sheriff's deputies pulled the van over and demanded the licenses of those inside.

Fontenot was asked to collect the student's driver's licenses; he refused, saying he wasn't leading the trip.........MORE.......

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2005/04/05/louisiana_environmental_official_says_he_was_forced_to_retire/