A Kentucky jailer has reportedly been caught repeatedly using racial slurs -- and it's not the first time he's done it.
WDRB reported that Bullitt County Jailer Paul Watkins was recorded by former Bullitt County Sheriff Dave Greenwell during a conversation on March 3. The recording has been submitted along with a lawsuit filed in state court.
Watkins is said to have used the N-word six times during the 64-minute recording.
“I’m saying this, like, to you all. I don’t say this in public,” Watkins opined, according to WDRB. “See, my granddaughter’s married to f--king n----r and he is a n----r. There’s a thing — there’s a difference between a black guy and a n----r, and this bastard…”
“I mean, I know I’m old school, but I ain’t never seen the like of all this s--t,” he said at another point. “Have you all? And then you watch TV, and you see f--king n----r and a f--king white woman, all kinds of s--t.”
Watkins wanted to meet with Greenwell to secure his support for a political campaign, Greenwell said.
An attorney for Watkins blamed the remarks on the jailer “enduring a period of significant personal stress.”
“These inappropriate comments in no way reflect how Jailer Watkins considers the individuals mentioned and he sincerely regrets the descriptions and comments used,” attorney Carol Petitt said.
Watkins has previously been accused of using profane racial slurs in a lawsuit by employees who claimed he created a hostile work environment.
"He's extremely racist," Grace Smith, a former employee, told WDRB last year. "He tried to hide it, but when you've been racist for a long time, you don't hide it very well ... The jailer was a force to be reckoned with. He didn't believe in following rules."
