It’s 2018, but there are still parts of the country where elected officials drop the n-word in about every conversation.
Such is the case in the Ohio village of Crestline where the mayor is resigning after he was caught on a police body camera repeatedly using racial slurs.
The video, captured by Crestline police chief Joe Butler, shows Allen Moore using the word ‘n*****’ four times during a conversation at his garage in June.
Butler said he felt uncomfortable during the conversation and hired an attorney to investigate.
“I’m very disgusted and highly offended by Mayor Moore’s choice of words and feel that reporting his behavior could put my job as Crestline Police Chief in jeopardy,” Butler said. “The citizens of Crestline do not deserve this type of behavior nor should it stand in our society.”
During the conversation, Moore recalled past events and said, “I was uptown when those N-Words riled up… shot a lot of the windows out of the N-Words houses.”
According to the Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum, Moore apologized after the video was released earlier this month, saying the recording was made without his knowledge after he had earlier asked Butler to stop his “usual practice” of recording all conversations.
He conceded that “that is no excuse for using the language in that video.”
Moore, a Democrat, has been in office since April 4th and has lived in Crestline since 1960.
His apology did little to appease the community of around 4,400 people and many residents and council members called for his resignation.
Moore said he would resign by the end of the week at a village council meeting on Monday night – an announcement that was met with applause from the 50 or so people in attendance.
It came during a public comment part of the meeting, in which Gary Almanson, a resident of Crestline, called Moore a “detriment to our city” and called on him to resign.
Moore responded: “I was stepping down at the end of this week, just to let you know.”
Kari Pfeifer also excoriated Moore, telling those at the meeting: “Not only did the mayor use racial slurs to address members of this community, he also talked negatively about local businesses.”