GREENFIELD — Mpress Bennu’s resignation from the Human Rights Commission and her four-year role organizing the city’s Juneteenth festivities comes following a resident’s pushback over the decision to present former Police Chief Robert Haigh Jr., found liable for racial animus in a 2022 court verdict, with a Juneteenth award.

In a My Turn column published in the Greenfield Recorder on Monday announcing her resignation, Bennu wrote that she felt “belittled, disrespected and disgraced” during the June 21 dance party at the Moose Lodge, leading her to cancel the dance party only 30 minutes after it began.

“I canceled [the dance party] at approximately 7:30 p.m. because I was disrespected. For those who came out to the dance party early and had to leave, I truly apologize. For those who came after I shut the dance down, I also apologize. But one thing about me — I give respect and I expect respect,” Bennu wrote. “When I am disrespected to my face by someone who knows nothing about me, nor the substance of unity, I will not put up with it. ... I was called a puppet, a tool for the city of Greenfield and my employer. I was belittled, disrespected and disgraced in front of a group of people who did not look like me.”

Although she noted that she stopped the ceremony around the time that the first-ever Juneteenth awards were presented, Bennu did not comment on why she was confronted, nor who allegedly accosted her. Awards were given in the following categories: top sponsor for four years, youth, Juneteenth support for four years, Juneteenth community partnership for four years, community support in 2025, Juneteenth Person of the Year and a special tribute award.

Greenfield resident Ryan Whitney, who said he attended the Juneteenth awards ceremony to watch his mother-in-law, Greenfield Police Community Liaison Maria Burge, accept an award, said in a phone interview Monday that he was the individual who confronted Bennu, saying he was angered when Haigh was presented with one of the Juneteenth awards in recognition of his support of the city’s Juneteenth celebrations when they first began in 2022. Whitney said he confronted Bennu at the Moose Lodge and a verbal argument ensued.

“I talked to several people that I know, and I can’t say everybody, but at least most were so disgusted seeing Haigh get an award on a day like Juneteenth,” Whitney said. “I said to Mpress, [while] we were sitting at the corner of the bar, ‘That was a real stunt.’ … I did use the word ‘token’ and maybe that’s why she feels accosted, but I felt like they were using a Black voice to get Haigh back into favor.”

In February, a Massachusetts Appeals Court upheld a 2022 Hampshire County Superior Court ruling that found Haigh and the Greenfield Police Department racially discriminated against former Officer Patrick Buchanan. In May 2022, the jury found that Buchanan, the department’s only Black officer at the time, was denied promotions on multiple occasions and unjustly disciplined due to “racial animus.” Buchanan was awarded more than $1 million, factoring in pay for lost wages, emotional distress, attorney fees, interest and other statutory costs.

When contacted for follow-up interviews on Monday and Tuesday, Bennu declined to comment further. Mayor Ginny Desorgher also declined to comment on the awards ceremony.

In a previous interview, Bennu had said she will “still work with the city, just in a different capacity,” noting that she plans to continue her roles with the School Department and Greenfield Community College. She will soon begin, in partnership with Greenfield Savings Bank, a pilot program called the Journey Program that aims to help individuals with low credit or no credit build credit lines.

Bennu also said she will begin working with organizers of Springfield’s Juneteenth festivities and racial justice advocates in Amherst. She described the new roles not as a shift, but as a way of “growing” her work. She also noted that although her company, Moving Mountains Media, began Greenfield’s Juneteenth celebrations in 2022, the intent is for the annual celebration to continue under a new organizer, noting in her letter, “The torch is lit and someone else will carry on.”

“I’m expanding to a community that’s going to respect me — a community that’s going to appreciate the work that I do,” Bennu said last week. “My mission is about bringing this community together while the world is falling apart and hate is still so prevalent. … Juneteenth is not about conflict; it’s about healing and it’s about coming together.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at acammalleri@recorder.com or 413-930-4429.