Mayor of Smiths Station F.L. "Bubba" Copeland died during the afternoon hours of Friday, November 3rd of 2023. According to a post on the official facebook page for Lee County Sheriff's Office Investigations "On November 3rd 2023 at approximately 4:14 PM , the Lee County Sheriff's Office received information that a welfare check was needed for Mayor Fred 'Bubba' Copeland from Smiths Station. Deputies located Mayor Copeland in the Beulah community of Lee County and a slow pursuit was initiated. Mayor Copeland turned off of Lee road 279 on to Lee road 275 just north of Yarbroughs Crossroads and pulled over. He exited the vehicle, produced a handgun and took his own life. An ongoing investigation is being conducted by Investigators at the Lee County Sheriff's Office." In addition to holding public office, Copeland was the pastor at First Baptist Church of Phenix City and owner of The Country Market grocery store and gas station in Salem.
Copeland's death was ostensibly precipitated by a November 1st article published on the website of conservative Alabama media outlet 1819 News which exposed his transsexual online alter-ego "Brittini Blaire Summerlin". Obscene pictures posted via Copeland's secret instagram and reddit accounts that depicted him in full drag, often dressed and posed pornographically were cataloged extensively by 1819 news. Later on in the evening that same day, Copeland addressed the article in a livestreamed sermon he gave as pastor from his church during a worship service where he stated "This will not cause my life to change. This will not waver my devotion to my family, to serving my city, to serving my church. I'm thankful for the grace of God, the willingness to forgive. I have nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of the things that were said were taken out of context. And, in conclusion, I love my family. They're number one. And again, I'm sorry for what my actions have caused."
Reaction on social media to the 1819 News article was immediate and intense, with many residents of Smiths Station and beyond fiercely defending Copeland as their cherished mayor, pastor, friend or any combination of the three. Mainstream media outlets had only just begun to pick up the story by Friday when the shocking news spread throughout the community that Copeland was dead. News of his death fanned the flames of bitter outrage, spawning an avalanche of angry social media comments laying blame for the tragedy at what they considered to be the blood soaked hands of 1819 News and the article's writer, Craig Monger.
For the record, the Examiner does not take any position on the personal life of Mayor Copeland. This website is strictly concerned with accountability and transparency in government, particularly as it relates to our local officials in the counties that make up East Alabama. If Copeland's behavior was a religious issue, that is a matter to be taken up by the leadership at the church to which he belonged. For his constituents living in Smiths Station, they theoretically would have had the opportunity to express their support or disapproval of Copeland in his capacity as mayor on the next coming election day in which he was on the ballot. These concerns were all rendered moot by Copeland's untimely passing.
What we in the community are left with is a mass media firestorm of epic proportions that is characterizing Smiths Station and Alabama at large in a highly unflattering light. It brings to mind the shameful televangelist sex scandals of the 1980s that brought down legends like Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker along with Jimmy Swaggart.
Were these false prophets full of hypocrisy hell bent on enriching themselves through their exploitation of naiive congregants addicted to their televised brand of fake Christianity? That seemed to be the consensus when the bills came due for the debauched chicanery engaged in by the likes of Bakker and Swaggart. Their careers in religious broadcasting came to an abrupt end along with their leadership roles in the church, swept aside and forgotten amidst the maelstrom of tabloid television's next big scandal. Copeland will never have to face up to the consequences of a legacy that would come to be tarnished in the minds of many.
Copeland's public humiliation and imminent departure have now become grist for the mill far beyond the borders of Alabama, as the entire nation gawks at this roadside wreck in the state where stupid happens. National media outlets gleefully covering the story include NBC News, Huffington Post, the Daily Beast, Newsweek, the New York Post, the New York Daily News, the Daily Mail, Salon, the Drudge Report and Mediaite,
Other benchmarks of unwanted notoriety include the story making the front page of reddit, multiple threads on 4chan, countless twitter posts and too many tiktoks to number.
Left with nothing besides unanswerable questions and hurt feelings, Bubba's defenders and critics alike point fingers at each other in an endless blame game while simultaneously seeking to claim the mantle of being "true Christians". This inevitably leads to a puzzling phenomenon known in internet parlance as copium.
Here is a cozy little picture of Bubba in happier days with two of his good buddies, Lee County Commissioner Gary Long and ex-commissioner/mysterious businessman Robert Ham.
Bubba's saucy scandal, diabolical demise and the ensuing media feeding frenzy have left the citizens of Alabama at each others throats over how to decide who the "real Christians" are. Is it the live and let live, judge not lest ye be judged camp defending Bubba or is it the fire and brimstone crowd damning him to an eternity in hell? Fortunately for everyone, there is an established process for separating modern, progressive congregants from their traditionalist fellow churchgoers. It is called disaffiliation. Following a period of discernment, a church can choose to disaffiliate itself from an umbrella organization that it feels does not reflect its values. There have been many such cases of Methodist churches leaving the United Methodist Church due to their inability to sanction rogue congregations who have either allowed or endorsed gay marriage ceremonies and/or the ordainment of homosexual pastors.
While we are at it, it is high time that the Republican party in Alabama partook in the process of discernment to separate the truly conservative adherents of limited government from their RINO counterparts. Far too often, Republicans In Name Only are simply Republicans In Normal Operation. GOP legends from the party of Lincoln such as Richard Nixon, George H.W. Bush and his son Dubya live on in spirit through the big government Republicans of modern day Alabama. When you have two opposing groups both claiming to be the "real Republicans" of Alabama, it is time for disaffiliation so that the true believers in limited government can make their voices heard without being drowned out by the RINO noise coming from the city halls, county courthouses and the capitol in Montgomery.
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