Mayor Resigns After Email: Never 'Been a Good Person of Color Killed by a Police Officer'

The mayor of Temecula, California resigned Thursday after his emailed response about police killings went viral.

After a resident asked how James Stewart would end police violence on Tuesday, the former mayor responded, "I don't believe there’s ever been a good person of color killed by a police officer."

The backlash was quick as critics took to the City of Temecula Facebook to call the email racist.

Stewart claimed the email was a voice-text mistake and he did not proofread before sending.

In a Facebook message on Wednesday, Stewart said he is "very well known for his dyslexia" and had no idea how "good" got into the response. He said he meant the sentence to say he didn't believe county officers have ever killed a person of color.

Critics were quick to point out the 1998 death of Tyisha Miller, a 19-year-old black woman shot in her car by police as she sat at a gas station, per The Los Angeles Times.

Stewart also highlighted that the rest of his reply read, "racism is not (accepted) or tolerated in the City of Temecula" and that he has "several good friends who are African-Americans, and they love living here because how safe it is for them and their families."

However, residents deemed the email racist and called for his resignation.

"It was incredibly horrible timing, but at the same time, I need to protect the city too," Stewart told the outlet. "With the massive protest [on Friday], this could cause the city much more harm and focus  n the city that doesn't belong there, so I figured I'd just resign."

In another Facebook posting, Stewart apologized for the incident. but wanted his city to know he was not racist.

"City of Temecula, I hear you, I agree with you, and I am deeply sorry. I owe everyone an apology including our citizens of all backgrounds and ethnicities, city staff, and my respected colleagues on the City Council," he wrote. "You have every right to be hurt and offended."

"My typos and off-the-cuff response to an email on a serious topic added pain at a time where our community, and our country, is suffering. I may not be the best writer and I sometimes misspeak, but I am not racist. I deeply regret this mistake and I own it, entirely. I am truly sorry."

Some applauded his owning the situation and resigning, but others felt it was blown out of proportion.

“Not to discount the real raw emotions that we are experiencing in society at the moment, we need to be careful not to let the people who are trying to better society get rounded up with the bad actors who are the true problem," Kevin Willis, 35, told the LA Times.

Stewart's resignation comes amid the nationwide protests against police brutality and racial injustice in the wake of George Floyd's death, who died after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Last Friday, Derek Chauvin was arrested after video captured him with his knee on Floyd's neck for more than eight minutes during Floyd's arrest for allegedly passing a counterfeit $20 bill. Floyd was unresponsive when paramedics arrived and was later pronounced dead.

Chauvin faces 2nd-degree murder and 2nd-degree manslaughter charges.

The three other officers in the arrest -- Thomas Lane, J.A. Keung and Tou Thao -- were charged with aiding and abetting the homicide.