Keith A. Sutton: Apology for poor choice of words

At a March 15 school board meeting, I shared a few ways in which I had acted in my capacity as a school board member since our last meeting. This sharing is typical during the board comment period at the beginning of every meeting.

We had just heard a presentation that included information regarding the district’s responsiveness to community concerns. I chose to share my experience in attending a recent meeting of residents who are concerned about the tragic death of Akiel Denkins and urged the district to continue to be responsive to community concerns.

In referring to the purpose of the community meeting, I characterized the incident as the “murder of the young gentleman in Southeast Raleigh.” That was a misstatement on my part, for which I am deeply sorry.

There are many ways that I could have referred to this unfortunate incident, and my word choice was poor and unintended.

I did not mean to implicate the Raleigh Police Department, its leadership or its officers in any way, nor did I intend to impugn the character or judgment of Officer D.C. Twiddy.

It is my intent to allow the investigative and judicial process to be completed, and I encourage all residents to do the same.

While I spoke to Raleigh Police Chief Cassandra Deck-Brown later that evening, I would like to publicly apologize to Deck-Brown, Twiddy, the City of Raleigh and any residents who might have been offended by my comment.

This story was originally published March 21, 2016 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Keith A. Sutton: Apology for poor choice of words."