Facebook post from Caseville business owner causes controversy

CASEVILLE, Mich. (WNEM) – Social media was flooded after the assassination attempt on former president Donald Trump, with many sending thoughts of prayer and concern, but many other posts were considered in poor taste.

A mid-Michigan business owner’s post about it created a firestorm of controversy, but he said he didn’t post it.

TV5’s James Felton spoke with Tom Carriveau, the owner of Explorer Charters in Caseville.

Saturday night, July 13, a Facebook post made from his account surfaced, stating the shooter missed his mark.

Carriveau said he didn’t do it, claiming he was hacked, and now he is working to clear his name after the Caseville Chamber of Commerce took action on his business.

“Our board unanimously voted to terminate Tom Carriveau’s membership with Explorer Charters as a chamber member,” said Steve Louwers, president of the Caseville Chamber of Commerce.

He said a Facebook post from the account of Tom Carriveau was a violation of the chamber’s by-laws, engaging in conduct unbecoming a charter member, and engaging in practices directly detrimental to the chamber or Caseville area.

He added that continued involvement with Carriveau would threaten the safety of, cause additional disruption, and create irreparable damages to the business community.

“I’m really, really feeling terrible about the whole situation. As 25 years as president of the chamber, I’ve never had this situation come up,” Louwers said.

As TV5 has reported, Trump was shot in the ear during an attempted assassination Saturday.

The post from Carriveau’s account laments the fact that the shot missed its target and stated the shooter would have done the world a service.

“We’re receiving a lot of negative emails and things, and basically we’re taking our stance as a chamber of commerce and letting people know that we don’t condone it,” Louwers said.

TV5 spoke with Carriveau off camera.

He said he left his phone at the public bathroom near the beach in Caseville around 10 p.m. on Saturday. He said he didn’t have security features set up on the phone. He said he went back and got the phone around 3 a.m. Sunday from the bathroom. TV5 checked with the city workers who said the bathroom isn’t locked.

Carriveau said hours later when he woke up, there were dozens of messages on his phone. That’s when he realized something was wrong. He’s taken the posts down.

Carriveau said it’s the most ridiculous thing he could do to a business he’s worked for years to build.

But Louwers said that won’t change what has happened.

“Tom is a hard worker. He’s a great man. And I feel really bad for him. I feel bad for the family. I also feel bad for the victims, and on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, we had to do what we had to do,” he said.

Carriveau said he’s received numerous cancellations since the Facebook post from his account went viral. During the half hour that Felton spoke with him, his cell phone rang the entire time.

He has the right to request a hearing to get his membership with the Caseville Chamber of Commerce reinstated. It’s not yet clear what he plans to do.

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