A Republican group in Alabama is apologizing after it says racist imagery was accidentally posted to its Facebook page, CBS News reports.
In an online post naming the new county chairman, Shanon Terry, the Lawrence County Republican Party shared the image, which depicted the Republican National Committee elephant logo and three figures drawn to resemble hooded Klansmen in between its legs.
The group says it intended to post an image of the GOP elephant on its Facebook page. Instead, it used a photo that outraged both residents and state officials.
“I would like to offer a deep and sincere apology for a picture that temporarily appeared on this page last night. A google search picture of a GOP elephant was used and later found to have hidden images that do not represent the views or beliefs of the Lawrence County Republican Party,” Terry wrote in a Facebook post apologizing for the use of the image.
The image was initially used in a Mother Jones article accusing the GOP of racism in 2020. Terry is a member of the Lawrence County School Board, according to CBS News affiliate WHNT, and has stated that he will not resign.
State Rep. Anthony Daniels, a Democrat representing Alabama’s 53rd congressional district and the state’s youngest and first African American Minority Leader, tweeted, “Shame on the Lawrence County Republican Party for this disgusting image.”
The group’s Facebook page was deleted as of Thursday evening.