A citizen-led watchdog organization dubbed the ‘Odessa Accountability Project’ says they discovered a Twitter account that is believed to belong to a local newspaper reporter, and that the account shows multiple past tweets of a controversial nature.
The Accountability Project pointed to the Twitter account @fmloco65, which appears to be an old account belonging to Odessa American reporter Federico Martinez.
Specifically, the watchdog group is pointing to a tweet from early 2017, in which Martinez appears to tweet to TV celebrity Steve Harvey, expressing his disappointment in Harvey and calling Harvey a derogatory racial slur.
“@IAmSteveHarvey beyond disappointed. At least white America has found their new house N……” Martinez can be seen tweeting.
Martinez’s tweet appears to be regarding a meeting Harvey had with then-President-elect Donald Trump, after which Harvey issued a statement expressing a positive message about his meeting and how Trump wanted to make a difference in helping inner-city communities.
Odessa Headlines reached out to Martinez for comment, asking Martinez to confirm whether the tweet was, in fact, his and if he could provide a statement regarding his Tweets.
Martinez responded stating, “My plan is to ignore this request.”
Martinez’s racial slur surfaces right on the heels of the reporter being accused of “casting the Odessa City Attorney, Natasha Brooks, in a negative light because she is a black-woman.”
Brooks issued a statement to Odessa Headlines regarding Martinez’s tweets, saying, “Mr. Martinez’s comments are very disheartening.”
Martinez has garnered attention on social media in recent months, after an audio of a phone conversation with Odessa Councilman Mark Matta was widely circulated on Facebook in which an irate Martinez argues with and hurls insults at the councilman and his mother.
The phone call was prompted because Matta had claimed there were inaccuracies in the reporter’s coverage of the city council.