NORTH SMITHFIELD, R.I. — The Town Council president wants to recall his resolution to boycott Nike, not because he has changed his mind but because of the backlash it unleashed on this rural community.

“I am not doing this because my views on this subject have changed,” John Beauregard said in a news release Wednesday. “I still feel as strongly about the subject today as I did [on] Monday. I am only doing this because of the backlash to my town, the businesses in my town, the schools and all the residents. I don't want to drag anyone into my fight that did not choose to be in it.”

The Town Council will meet in special session Monday to reconsider his nonbinding resolution.

Beauregard, a former state trooper, said the "sheer hatred displayed in emails and on social media" gave him pause, and said he was subjected to "a campaign of lies and character assassination."

“This is not the first time I changed a vote I made, and I am sure it will not be the last,” he said.

On Monday, Beauregard made a motion asking town departments to refrain from buying Nike products. The apparel company recently released a commercial featuring sidelined NFL football player and activist Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the national anthem to protest the treatment of black people, especially the killing of unarmed black men by police.

The council voted 3 to 2 in favor of Beauregard's nonbinding resolution.

Meanwhile, three members of the North Smithfield School Committee, including the chairman, have spoken out against the resolution, saying it has damaged the town's reputation.

"I believe the resolution is misguided," said Peg Voto at the beginning of Tuesday's School Committee meeting. "Personal experience should not guide town policy. This is not who we are. I respectfully ask the Town Council to reconsider this decision."

"This issue has taken on a life of its own," said School Committee member Jean Meo. "We cannot let what plays out on a national stage divide the town."

In his statement, Beauregard said his resolution had nothing to do with race.

But set against the national conversation inspired by the "Black Lives Matter" movement, the resolution was taken as an attack on people of color.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island called the passage of the resolution "shameful" and said it showed "disdain for both freedom and equality." In a tweet on Wednesday after Beauregard's statement, the ACLU commended him for taking a step back.

"If rescinded," the ACLU said in a tweet, "this will be a major victory for those who spoke out in favor of freedom of speech!"

Jim Vincent, the president of the Providence chapter of the NAACP, was less forgiving:

"I am pleased to see that John Beauregard has recognized that he made a mistake," he said.

But Vincent doesn't forgive him.

"He needs to apologize to communities of color," Vincent said. "He needs to say that the issue of police brutality and racial inequality are important to him and the town and most fair-minded people. The protest is about racial equality and police brutality. Anything else is a distraction."

-lborg@providencejournal.com

(401) 277-7823