PULLED OVER

Mississippi Lawmaker Behind Anti-CRT Bill Busted for DUI in Alabama

Sen. Michael McLendon was charged with DUI combined with substance. Police did not immediately share what that other substance may have been.

A Mississippi state senator was arrested in Alabama and charged with driving under the influence, authorities said Monday. State Sen. Michael McLendon (R) was pulled over by deputies near Foley, Alabama on June 5 after dispatchers received a call about a reckless driver on Highway 98. McLendon was arrested without incident after being tested at the scene. He was charged with DUI combined with substance. “That means alcohol combined with another substance,” said Baldwin County Chief Deputy Anthony Lowery, according to Mississippi Today. “We are not alleging what that substance is at this point, and that does not necessarily mean anything nefarious—it can be cold medicine.” The 59-year-old Republican was later released on a $2,500 bond. Elected to represent Desoto County in the Mississippi Senate in 2020, McLendon successfully introduced and pushed through a bill that aimed at keeping critical race theory out of the state’s classrooms last year. During debate on the bill, McLendon admitted he was not aware of any public school in the state that taught critical race theory.