Sheriff who said racial slur ‘just slipped out’ faces calls for resignation in Tennessee
Calls for the resignation of a Tennessee sheriff have grown after he admitted to using a racial slur.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Steve Sanders has since apologized after a secret recording captured him using the racial slur while discussing a case, local station WREG reported.
Sanders confirmed it was his voice on the recording, but has scoffed at calls for him to resign.
“Respectfully, I would like to offer my sincere apology to every resident of Lauderdale County, especially to the African American residents,” the sheriff said Friday, according to the station. “I have always treated the people of this county fairly and impartially and I will continue to do so.”
Sanders added that the incident was “out of character” for him and isn’t indicative of who he is, WREG reported.
An audio recording of Sanders using the slur is at the center of calls for his removal. A clip of his exchange with a deputy employee leaked online last week, sparking outrage and protests outside the sheriff’s home, FOX 13 Memphis reported.
“You say they killed some-... they killed him outside?” the deputy asks, according to the recording obtained by the station.
Sanders responds: “They shot him, right there on his farm. Two little (expletives) lived around the bend come across the field, come up there and shot him.”
Addressing the backlash, Sanders insisted he’s not a racist and that the racial slur “just slipped out,” WREG reported. He further argued that “normal” people don’t want to see him resign.
“I got a lot of black friends, I got a lot of enemies, as any sheriff would,” he told the news station, “but I apologize to all of them.”
Local residents say an apology isn’t enough, however. They want Sanders out.
“Right is right,” Tiffany Driver, who protested outside the sheriff’s home last week, told FOX 13 Memphis. “Wrong is wrong. He’s dead wrong and he needs to be gone.”
Lauderdale County is a community of about 25,600 and has a population that’s 35% African-American, according to census data.
Lindsey Stovel, who was among 40 protesters who gathered outside the sheriff’s department June 2 to call for change after the audio was leaked, told the Associated Press she was “shocked” to learn what Sanders had said.
A Change.org petition to have the sheriff removed has collected more than 2,700 signatures as of Monday afternoon.