Local New Hampshire police official resigns after shouting racial epithet about Obama

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last updated 8 January 2015

A controversy that engulfed the small town of Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, has now come to end. Robert Copeland, a member of its three-person elected Police Commission, who shouted a racial epithet at a restaurant TV screen to refer to President Obama, has now resigned.

On Sunday night, Copeland notified Commission Chair Joe Balboni that he was resigning, reports the New Hampshire Union Leader. His email read simply: "Dear Commission Chairman Balboni, I resign. Bob Copeland."

Last Thursday, more than 100 people attended the Police Commission's regular public meeting, with many of them calling for Copeland to resign. (For context, Wolfeboro has about 6,000 residents.) As the Concord Monitor reported last week, Copeland had staunchly refused to apologize for his use of the slur, citing his First Amendment rights and insisting he is "not phobic." "My use of derogatory slang in reference to those among [U.S. minorities] undeserving of respect is no secret," Copeland said.