Jody Greene, a Columbus County sheriff in North Carolina, has resigned from his from office on Monday after he was captured making racist statements about his Black employees.

Greene was scheduled for a hearing Monday based on a petition to remove him from office. He submitted his resignation, effective immediately, before the hearing’s first witness was set to appear.

In September during the county’s sheriff’s race, a recording was released of Greene making multiple offensive remarks in Feburary 2019.

“Every Black that I know, you need to fire him,” Greene is heard saying. “I’m going to clean house and be done with it. And we’ll start from there.”

“I’m sick of these Black bastards,” Greene also said. “They think I’m scared? They’re stupid. I don’t know what else to do with them, so it’s just time to clean them out.”

Greene also faces a criminal investigation for allegations of misconduct and obstruction of justice. As District Attorney Jon David alleged:

Defendant (Jody Greene) has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he is willing to misuse the power and authority inherent to the office of sheriff for improper personal and political gain. “He has used his office to hire and fire deputies based on race and to curry political favor. He has abused his power to decide which laws are enforced and against whom they are enforced.

Greene is still on the ballot in the sheriff’s race, which will be decided on Nov. 8. If Greene wins, David says his office has an “ethical obligation” to file another petition to remove him from office.

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