Alabama Republican group apologizes after posting Ku Klux Klan image on Facebook

Marina Pitofsky, USA TODAY
·2 min read

An Alabama Republican group apologized after using a picture of an elephant that contained imagery related to the Ku Klux Klan.

The Lawrence County Republican Party posted an image on Facebook of the familiar GOP elephant, but the white spaces between the cartoon elephant’s legs look like members of the KKK in hoods.

Shanon Terry, an official in the Republican organization, apologized in another Facebook post for the image, saying it was found through a search on Google.

“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. The picture was then immediately replaced. As chairman I take full responsibility for the error,” Terry stated in the post.

The image appeared in a 2020 article from the outlet Mother Jones.

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Terry, a member of the Lawrence County Board of Education, said in a statement to USA TODAY on Thursday that he will not be stepping down from his position on the board.

“I look forward to continuing to strive to give every student in Lawrence County the best opportunity to be successful,” he said.

“I regret the mistake that was made, and it was just that- an unintended mistake. The image posted by me on a political Facebook page was not done with any malicious or harmful intent. Once made aware of the negative portion of the picture I immediately replaced it and followed up with an apology/explanation the next day,” he added in the statement.

Alabama’s state House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, a Democratic lawmaker from Huntsville, Alabama, criticized the use of the image, tweeting on Tuesday “Shame on the Lawrence County Republican Party for this disgusting image.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alabama Republican group post Ku Klux Klan image, apologizes for error