Alabama official insists ‘I am NOT a racist’ amid backlash over joke about running over Black protesters

A councilman in Decatur, Alabama, is under fire over a post on Facebook in which he joked about running over Black protesters.

"Clearly, there are many mixed emotions about the situation but I will say this and I am going to make my myself clear on it, I am NOT a racist individual," Hunter Pepper wrote on his Facebook page Sunday in response to the criticism.

Pepper, 19, was elected to serve on Decatur's City Council in August 2020.

The controversial post was first reported by BamaPolitics this week. Responding to a news report about protesters threatening to shut down a mall over the police shooting of E.J. Bradford, Pepper wrote in 2018: "See I have to go shopping there next week and we gone play a game called red rover red rover you fools gone get ran over!"

"It's something that shouldn't be accepted," seven-term Decatur Councilman Billy Jackson said of Pepper's joke, according to AL.com.

"If I made a comment like that, people would come out of the woodwork after me. I expect people will come out of the woodwork for his resignation. If he doesn't do it voluntarily, I expect people will request it."

In response, Pepper said he made the joke when he was 16 years old and was not planning on resigning.

"I will say this, yes that post involves violence but it most definitely and sure does not involve racism, it is most definitely a misquoted article," Pepper wrote. "I am most definitely in the wrong for making the post and the comments I made but no where and I mean NO WHERE does it say anything about racism, skin color, or targeting specific individuals."