A white police commissioner in a New Hampshire town said he will not apologize for calling President Barack Obama the N-word, the Associated Press reported.
The town of Wolfeboro is calling for Police Commissioner Robert Copeland, 82, to resign from his position after he admitted in an email he called the first African American president the N-word. But the commissioner remains steadfast behind his statements and will not back down.
"I believe I did use the 'N' word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse," Copeland wrote in an email to other town police commissioners obtained by the AP. "For this, I do not apologize- he meets and exceeds my criteria for such."
Copeland forwarded a portion of the email to Jane O'Toole, a resident in the predominantly white town who overheard Copeland use the N-word in reference to Obama while at a restaurant in March, the AP reported. O'Toole alerted the town manager about the incident.
"Comments like these, especially coming from a public official, are not only inexcusable but also terribly, unfortunately, reflects poorly on our town," O'Toole said at a meeting full of residents demanding the commissioner's resignation on Thursday.
Some residents wore stickers with the word "Resign" on their shirts, the AP reported. Copeland, who attended the meeting, remained sitting with his arms folded across his chest.
David Owen, the town manager, said although he considers Copeland's statements "reprehensible," he cannot force Copeland from his position because he is an elected official. Copeland was just re-elected for a three-year term in March.
As for the residents' call for his resignation, Copeland replied: "I want to think about what's going on and decide," the AP reported.
Wolfeboro has around 20 black residents out of a town of 6,300. The state of New Hampshire's population is 1 percent black and 94 percent white.
