Arkansas County Sheriff Todd Wright recently resigned after pressure from the county’s Quorum Court, but not before one final pathetic attempt at salvaging his reputation.
The incident leading up to this involved a conversation Wright had with Desiree Middlebrooks, the mother of his child. They were at a local grocery store when Wright saw Middlebrooks in a pleasant exchange with a Black employee. That, apparently, set him off.
She secretly recorded Wright as he expressed his rage, referring to [the employee] as a dread head n***** and calling the mother of his child a n***** lover.
(PLEASE NOTE THAT THE VOICE RECORDING CAN BE HEARD BY ACCESSING THE "SOURCE" AT THE END OF THIS POST.)
Jesus…
The Quorum Court met on Friday to talk about the incident in a public setting. The judges didn’t have the power to fire him, but they introduced a resolution calling for his resignation. Members of the community spoke out against his racism:
“I traveled a long ways to let you know Todd, it’s unacceptable,” [activist Jackie Smith] said. “You wonder why we riot. You wonder why we loot — because you’re teaching us what hate is. That is not what we want to do.”
…
“This is ridiculous. This is shameful. Todd you need to resign,” said [Attorney Furonda] Brasfield. “When I heard that audio, I did not jump to conclusions but I was taken back. It was unbelievable but it was believable because we live in Arkansas County. This is not the first racist officer that’s been allowed to run [rogue] in this county.”
…
“This is ridiculous. This is shameful. Todd you need to resign,” said [Attorney Furonda] Brasfield. “When I heard that audio, I did not jump to conclusions but I was taken back. It was unbelievable but it was believable because we live in Arkansas County. This is not the first racist officer that’s been allowed to run [rogue] in this county.”
And what was Wright’s response to all this? He insisted he wasn’t racist and couldn’t be a racist because he’s a Good Christian Man. If he said anything racist, it was the Devil’s fault.
With his body language slouched in his chair, he addressed the room stating what was done was in the privacy of his own home. Blaming his actions on the devil, Wright said the video was recorded because he was mad at Middlebrooks because he missed a funeral of his friend, who was black, trying to locate her.
source.