#Arkansas sheriff resigns after his racist tirade is caught on tape

An Arkansas sheriff has resigned after being caught on tape unleashing a racist tirade at the mother of his kids — calling her a “n—- lover” for speaking to a black grocery store worker, according to reports.

Todd Wright resigned Friday as sheriff of Arkansas County during an explosive meeting, which was posted live on Facebook from the Quorum Court, the governing legislative body, NBC News reported.

Desiree Middlebrooks, the mother of Wright’s children, secretly recorded him going ballistic and using the racial slur nine times a few months ago at the store.

“Why you got to holler at f— n— when I’m around?” he was heard yelling at Middlebrooks.

In a feeble May 28 mea culpa on Facebook reported by The Pine Bluff Commercial, Wright acknowledged that it was his voice in the five-minute recording.

“To all I have offended or hurt I send my sincere apologies and will pray for my enemies,” he said.

During Friday’s hearing, the loudmouth lawman blamed his unhinged outburst on the devil and insisted he’s not racist, USA Today reported.

“I’m a Christian man. I read my Bible every day,” Wright said. “I am by no means a racist. That video does not show the true picture of me.”

He also said he had been angry with Middlebrooks because he missed a funeral of a black pal, according to the news outlet.

A woman who identified herself as the aunt of Nick Clark, the man Wright had disparaged, said she didn’t understand know why he felt the need to call the man “names like that.”

“He wouldn’t come here today. He doesn’t like this kind of stuff but he’s hurt,” said Betty Wofford, who described her nephew as a family man who works two jobs.

“I don’t believe anything you just said. You have to say this stuff because you want to keep your job,” she added, according to the Pine Bluff Commercial.

Justice of the Peace Inez McLemore said: “After viewing and hearing the video I was terribly upset to know that we have someone out here that’s supposed to be taking care of us, protecting and serving to have that kind of opinion of me – I’m using me as a race because of my color.”

She added: “If it’s in your heart, in your mind and you say it, you mean it. What you did on that video brought a world of separation.”

County Judge Thomas Best said the court’s members decided Thursday to ask for Wright’s resignation after the vile tape began circulating on Facebook.

“It saddens me that anyone would disrespect God’s creation in this manner,” Best said during the meeting. “No way will I condone this action from anyone.”

Wright initially refused to resign, then said he would do so in a month, and finally agreed to step down immediately after a former officer spoke.

“Todd, I’ve known you all my life. You need to take that badge and (set) it on that table and walk out of here Todd,” former DeWitt officer Bobby Webb said.

“You know I love you, but you screwed up. Lay that badge down, lay that gun down and walk out of here,” he said.