Stephen Murray, until Friday morning mayor of Beaufort, has resigned, railing against “rude people” and stating in his Facebook announcement that “it’s time for me to focus more on my family, my friends, my businesses, and my health.” Murray made his public announcement early Friday morning without the courtesy of informing his fellow members of City Council in advance.

Murray’s resignation follows allegations hours before his resignation that he had stalked and threatened Cynthia Jenkins, executive director of Historic Beaufort Foundation, as she drove away about 10.00 p.m. Tuesday evening from city council’s meeting at which council under Murray’s lead stripped the foundation of its seat on the city’s historic review board.

At about the same time that Murray posted his resignation announcement, a reliable source unrelated to the Tribune engaged in the following email conversation with Murray. In this exchange Murray called the citizen an “asshole” and an “entitled jerk”. This is the same Stephen Murray who called people who disagree with him “rude people”. See below for what is truly rude and nasty and unforgiveable in an elected official acting in his official capacity, namely Stephen Murray, now the disgraced ex-mayor of Beaufort: