BATON ROUGE, La. – A small group of passionate demonstrators gathered outside the Louisiana State Capitol Monday to protest recent actions by Governor Jeff Landry—but the protest came to a quiet end after they discovered the man they had been addressing was not the governor, but Carl Dugas, a Capitol groundskeeper trimming the hedges.
Witnesses say the protesters had been delivering loud, emotional speeches to Dugas, who responded only with polite nods while continuing to water plants. “I thought they were just theater students doing a project,” said Dugas, who has maintained the Capitol grounds since 1996.
One protester said the realization hit when someone asked for a policy change and Dugas replied, “I can fertilize the lawn, but that’s about it.”
Organizers quickly packed up, calling the mix-up “an honest mistake brought on by poor signage and emotional momentum.”
Governor Landry, reached for comment, replied, “There was a protest?”
The group has vowed to return next week—with better coordination and, hopefully, a working knowledge of the Capitol’s employee directory.
