A Wyoming state legislator has apologized for posting a tweet about the state’s first Black sheriff that many interpreted as racist.
Republican State Representative Cyrus Western had replied on social media to an article about the appointment of Albany County Sheriff Aaron Appelhans with a clip from the movie Blazing Saddles.
The 1973 film by Mel Brooks is the satirical story of a black man appointed as the sheriff of an all-white town in the Old West, and Representative Western says he didn’t mean for the clip to be seen as disparaging Appelhans.
Western deleted the tweet after criticism mounted and says he called Sheriff Appelhans to apologize, describing his tweet as “dumb and uncalled for.”
Western says what he did was “was insensitive, and, while unintended, I recognize that it was wrong.”
Appelhans says Western was apologetic, but that they definitely had a conversation about his tweet and its racist connotations.
The sheriff said they talked about being a politician and making sure you’re representing the people who elected you to office and the state as well.