Virginia Cop In Blackface Halloween Costume Sparks Outrage

A white Virginia police officer sparked outrage from local activists when pictures surfaced of her dressed in blackface. The NAACP issued a statement regarding the matter and the officer was then reassigned.

Deputy Jean Browning of the York-Poquoson Sheriff's Office showed up to a private Halloween party dressed as African American Congresswoman Frederica Wilson, CBS-affiliate WNCN reported Thursday.

She was accompanied by her boyfriend, who dressed as President Donald Trump. Pictures of the duo surfaced online and prompted a response from members of the York-James City-Williamsburg chapter of the civil rights organization known as the NAACP. The group said in a statement that Browning’s blackface costume was racially insensitive.

"I was very concerned," said chapter president Brian Smalls. "This is a serious situation, this is nothing to be taken lightly."

"This is not a game, these are human beings, these are people that have feelings, emotions, they deserve to be treated with respect and dignity," he added.

Smalls claimed a friend forwarded him pictures of the deputy in blackface, which prompted him to meet with York-Poquoson Sheriff Danny Diggs Nov. 6 about the incident. After the meeting, the NAACP issued a press release that slammed the sheriff’s office for not having punished Browning and called for her to be reassigned from her position at the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program (D.A.R.E).

"Deputy Browning’s conduct expressly contradicts D.A.R.E.’s goal by mocking members of the York County community and school," the release read.

Diggs said he first learned of the photos during his meeting with the NAACP. He said that Browning will be reassigned from her D.A.R.E. position and will serve courtroom duty. He responded to the NAACP during a press conference Wednesday.

"Based on all of the circumstances and the need for the community to realize that the Sheriff’s Office takes race relations seriously, I have decided that it would be in the best interest for all concerned to reassign this deputy to another position within the Sheriff’s Office," Diggs said.