NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Police Department opened an internal investigation into Nyx Captain Julie Lea's husband after accusations that he used his position to hack into the Krewe of Muses' website when Nyx was forming.
NOPD technology director Chris Lea, Julie Lea's husband, was accused by one of Nyx's founding members, Kellie Barnes, of hacking into Muses' website to obtain their waiting list back in 2012.
Barnes shared the story during a "tell-all" Facebook Live Thursday night. According to Barnes, Julie Lea pulled out the list during an early Nyx meeting while they were still seeking members.
“I said, ‘Wow, where did you get this list?’” Barnes said in her livestream. “She said, ‘Well you know when your husband is in charge of IT for NOPD, there’s ways to break into other people’s websites.’”
NOPD responded to the story, originally published by The Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate, Friday.
"The employee has been reassigned and his access to all city networks has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation,” the statement from NOPD Spokesman Gary Scheets said.
The Mystic Krewe of Nyx is facing a mass exodus of members after Julie Lea made a social media post on the krewe's official pages stating "#ALLLIVESMATTER Our Souls Are the Same Color" in response to protests against police brutality happening around the country.
Several float lieutenants and krewe members left Nyx after attempting to get Lea to apologize for the social media post and explicitly back the Black Lives Matter movement.
According to former Nyx Lieutenant Gigi Saak, members asked Lea to promote African American members of the krewe to the board of directors and to explicitly say "Black Lives Matter" on social media. Lea allegedly refused to do either.
After that, those same members called for Lea's resignation.
In a letter signed by 27 Nyx Lieutenants, members called for Lea's resignation by 5 p.m. on Monday, June 8, and said they would resign if she didn't step down.
More than two dozen lieutenants resigned alongside hundreds of the krewe's members when Lea refused to step down.
RELATED: Nyx Captain lays out plan for reconciliation after hundreds leave krewe over 'All Lives Matter' post
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