Illinois police chief issues public apology after video emerges of his son chanting the N-word

The police chief for the city of Elgin, Illinois, has issued a public apology after his son was caught on video chanting racist slurs, the Northwest Herald reports.

“There is nothing more disheartening than learning a family member has acted in a manner inconsistent with your values and behavior. Even worse is when it’s your child,” Elgin Deputy Police Chief Colin Fleury said in a statement this Wednesday.

“I cannot begin to explain the shame my son and my family feel about his actions,” Fleury continued. “Five years ago, when we learned about his wearing the costume, we as a family used his unacceptable behavior as a teaching moment about the prejudice and pain that people of color deal with every day.”

The video, which is about 4-years-old, shows Fleury's then-15-year-old son and several fellow students chanting expletives and the N-word. The video was posted to several social media accounts, along with a photo of Fleury's son dressed as a monkey with a cardboard sign that read "uneducated monkey," which some say was a racist taunt aimed at black people.

The video surfaced amid unrest in U.S. cities in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police and was posted to Twitter by Christian Bradley, 33, after it brought to his attention by his brother.

“I love that city … but how did this slip through the cracks?” Bradley said.

Watch the video below:

https://www.facebook.com/collin.bradley.397/videos/2648738535341995/