A Facebook user posted video last week showing a stuffed monkey sitting in the back of a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, police cruiser a...
A Facebook user posted video last week showing a stuffed monkey sitting in the back of a Winston-Salem, North Carolina, police cruiser and called it "the most racist thing I have ever seen."
"Okay, so ya'll, this is the police," the woman was heard saying in the clip, adding that a stuffed monkey is in the back of the vehicle. "That's crazy."
"I'm so pissed," she wrote in her post. "And the worst part was my son was the one that pointed it out. This is way too close to home."
The stuffed monkey appeared to be sporting dreadlocks and a hat, both of which appear to be reminiscent of Rastafarian culture.
Looks can be deceiving
But Winston-Salem Police Chief Catrina Thompson told the Winston-Salem Journal that an investigation determined there was no racist intent behind the stuffed monkey.
Thompson said police routinely carry stuffed animals in their cars to calm children who have been traumatized by fires to acts of violence, the paper said.
She added to the Journal that the stuffed monkey was removed from the patrol vehicle and that steps are being taken to make sure the incident isn't repeated.
“In the future, we will confirm our stuffed animals are not offensive," Thompson said in her statement to the paper, adding that she understands offense was taken. “I apologize to any community member that found this circumstance to be offensive."
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