UPDATED::Kentucky lawmaker facing assault allegations kills himself

UPDATE::  The Government Rebuilt Dan Johnson’s Church. Now It’s Foreclosing On It

It’s unclear what HUD knew about Heart of Fire before granting its loan guarantee. The agency refused to answer questions about the program in general, or about Heart of Fire’s guarantee in particular, and it has not fulfilled a records request filed by KyCIR in February.

The recent court order didn’t come until after Johnson’s death, but records show that he knew that losing the property could be imminent. The government had already made one attempt to sell the property while he was alive.

The church’s debt to the federal government now exceeds $2 million, and HUD has grown weary of waiting. The church property at 5101 Bardstown Road in Fern Creek could be auctioned off later this year unless the church and the government can work out some agreement for repayment.

HUD requested and obtained a court order of sale on February 8, more than two years after it first asked that the property be sold. On Monday, the church and the federal government agreed to delay the foreclosure for 90 days while they “explore settlement options.”

I have really mixed feelings about this. Condolences to friends and family.

Dan Johnson, a Republican state lawmaker in Kentucky known for inflammatory Facebook posts comparing Barack and Michelle Obama to monkeys and who defiantly denied allegations that he sexually assaulted a teenage girl in the basement of his home, killed himself Wednesday night. He was 57.

Bullitt County Sheriff Donnie Tinnell said Johnson shot himself on a bridge in Mount Washington, Kentucky. Tinnell confirmed the death to WDRB-TV in Louisville.

Johnson was elected to the state legislature in 2016, part of a wave of Republican victories that gave the GOP control of the Kentucky House of Representatives for the first time in nearly 100 years. He won his election despite Republican leaders urging him to drop out of the race after some of his racist Facebook posts came to light.

Kentucky lawmaker facing assault allegations kills himself

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