A sheriff in Arkansas who initially came under fire for assuming “Blacks” were behind a deadly triple shooting in his county told a local news outlet he has used racial slurs.
He also contended that using the N-word is something “everybody does.”
Prairie County Sheriff Rick Hickman came under fire after a 9-1-1 call came in recently about a triple shooting. Hickman made an assumption about the victims and/or perpetrator based on the neighborhood in Des Arc, Arkansas where the crime took place.
The dispatcher said, “The house next to the apartments” on a call that was recorded.
“Oh, really. Black people then,” Hickman said in response.
The call was made public, and Hickman came under fire. The sheriff spoke to KARK about the call, his views on race and whether or not he views his comments as racist.
“I said where?” he recalled to the outlet out of Little Rock. “Was it the Blacks in the apartments? Cause those apartments are all blacks where it happened.”
Hickman, who is up for re-election, said he doesn’t understand why the call was controversial. He also attributed outrage over his assumption Black people were behind a triple shooting to a campaign to unseat him.
“No, cause those blacks live over there — that’s why I asked,” he told KARK about whether his assumption was out of line. “Nothing racial about it.”
Hickman was asked if he has ever used racial slurs, and he answered
“Probably, in the past, but you know, it is what it is,” he said. Everybody does.”
He also told the outlet, “I don’t use the N-word a lot but occasionally, I might have said it.”
Three people died in the shooting. KARK reported the victims and a suspect are all White.
A Black man from Hickman’s community named Jimel Brown was asked to comment on the sheriff’s comments. Brown said he would pray for his county’s top law enforcement officer.
Watch above, via KARK.