Democratic Party of Arkansas Chair, Grant Tennille, today called for the immediate resignation of Prairie County Sheriff Rick Hickman after Hickman acknowledged in an interview that he regularly uses racial slurs, revealing that he is unfit to hold office.
“For too long, too many have explained these episodes of clownish behavior on the part of certain Arkansas elected officials as ‘relics of an earlier time,’ and ‘not who we are anymore,’” Tennille said. “But in 2022, it’s time to call this kind of speech what it is: divisive and dangerous.
“Hickman has lost the respect, trust and cooperation of many of his constituents, and Prairie County is less safe while he wears a badge.”
Responding in his official capacity as Sheriff to an emergency call about a shooting, where three people were killed, Hickman referred dismissively to the location of the crime, as the victims were Black. Then in an interview with KARK (NBC), Hickman acknowledged that he uses racial slurs and even defended it saying, “…you know it is what it is. Everybody does.”
April 13, 2022