Cherokee Chief Demands Apology From GOP Sen. Scott Brown For Racist Tomahawk Chops and Indian Mocking by Staffers

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Senator Scott Brown (D-MA) has issued an apology after being called out by principal chief of the Cherokee Nation for his staffer’s “downright racist” Indian chants at a campaign rally.

“The conduct of these individuals goes far beyond what is appropriate and proper in political discourse,” the chief, Bill John Baker, said in a statement. “The use of stereotypical ‘war whoop chants’ and ‘tomahawk chops’ are offensive and downright racist. It is those types of actions that perpetuate negative stereotypes and continue to minimize and degrade all native peoples.”

A video of the event released Tuesday shows members of Senator Brown’s staff and campaign supporters making tomahawk chops and chanting Indian war chants in a shout-out with supporters of Elizabeth Warren, his Democratic challenger, outside a bar. Mr. Brown was inside at the time.