Residents of mostly white New Hampshire town ready to oust police official who called Obama the N-word and refuses to apologize



Wolfeboro police commissioner Robert Copeland admits he spoke the words in a restaurant, when he happened to be overheard

Four-month Wolfeboro resident Jane O'Toole has spearheaded a campaign to oust Copeland

‘I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such,’ said Copeland about his use of the racial slur

Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney owns a vacation home in the small New Hampshire town



Some residents of a predominantly white New Hampshire town are upset with racist remarks they say a police commissioner has made about President Barack Obama.

Resident Jane O'Toole said she overheard Wolfeboro Police Commissioner Robert Copeland use a racial slur in describing Obama.



In an email to her obtained by The Associated Press, Copeland acknowledged using the ‘N’ word in referring to the president and said he will not apologize.

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Robert Copeland (with the cane at left) called President Barack Obama a 'f***ing n*****' and is now refusing to apologize

Copeland is one of three members of the police commission, which hires, fires and disciplines officers and sets their salaries.

O'Toole, who moved to Wolfeboro four months ago, said she overheard Copeland use a racial slur to describe Obama at a local restaurant March 6.



She heard him say he hates turning on the television because every time he does, there's that 'f***ing n*****.'

'He sort of swung around and puffed up his chest and said, "Yeah,"' she told the Concord Monitor. 'And I said, "Not good, not good at all."'



On a mission: Jane O'Toole had lived in Wolfeboro for just a few months when she overheard a man she later identified as the police commissioner use the racial slur. She has since helped spearhead a campaign to get him fired

O'Toole said she didn't know Copeland was the police commissioner until she returned to the restaurant the next day and asked about him.

She wrote to the town manager in early April and he replied that he was powerless to act. She then wrote to Copeland's two fellow police commissioners. In an email response to her, Copeland included an excerpt from an email he sent to his fellow commissioners acknowledging his remark.

He said in the excerpt, ‘I believe I did use the 'N' word in reference to the current occupant of the Whitehouse. For this, I do not apologize — he meets and exceeds my criteria for such.’ He also wrote: ‘While I believe the problems associated with minorities in this country are momentous, I am not phobic.’

Wolfeboro Town Manager David Owen said Thursday that while he finds Copeland's comment ‘reprehensible,’ he and the board of selectmen have no authority to remove an elected official.

Owen said he expects a large number of residents will call for Copeland's resignation at a police commission meeting, adding ‘more power to them.’

Copeland has declined to be interviewed. Commission Chairman Joseph Balboni Jr. told the Concord Monitor he doesn't plan to ask Copeland to resign.



He said, ‘He's (Copeland) worked with a lot of blacks in his life ... He said some harsh words about Mr. Obama, and here we are. This woman, she's blowing it all out of proportion.’

Balboni said further that he had no plans to allow attending residents to speak their minds at Thursdays meeting.

Failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney's vacation home is in the town of Wolfeboro, along Lake Winnipesaukee

Meanwhile, board of selectman chairwoman Linda Murray planned to attend the meeting despite being powerless to remove him, she said she supports action against Copeland.

'I feel Mrs. O’Toole did what was appropriate,' she said. 'She informed the public. There are people in the public who are coming out dismayed by the kind of language and disrespect for the president of the United States, and they are going to stand up.'

About 20 African Americans live in Wolfeboro, a town of about 6,300 residents in the scenic Lakes Region, in the central part of New Hampshire.

