An ex-patriate hotel director accused of sending a racially-charged email will leave the Island voluntarily next week, The Royal Gazette can reveal.

John O’Brien, executive director of Ariel Sands Residence Club, resigned from his job yesterday after a personal message he sent to his best friend, which included the phrase “the young lazy black militant do nothing a**hole”, was made public.

He told The Royal Gazette>the email was stolen from his computer and passed to the Department of Immigration, which launched an investigation but decided not to revoke his work permit. “I’m from Connecticut and I’m going back there because I just don’t feel comfortable here any longer,” he said. “It’s on the news, it’s on the radio. I said stuff in there that’s been in every newspaper a hundred times but I’m being ostracised for it. I don’t want to bring anymore notoriety on Ariel Sands.”

The 55-year-old, who has been in Bermuda for more than six years and was due to marry his Canadian fiancée here in November, said he deeply regretted sending the email on June 29 after he was subjected to verbal abuse from a young black man who he had asked to move his car from the entrance to Ariel Sands. He said the man called him a “white b****” and “white m*******er” and told him to go back to his own country before driving off. Later that day, Mr. O’Brien sent the message to his friend in New York.

It has been reported in broadcast and online media as reading: “Sick of it here and it is getting pretty ugly with this new (8 years now) Black Government. Governor and Premier fighting, they arrested the Auditor General, who is a good guy, because he was investigating an $8 mil short in a project which involved all the top brass— lots of racial tension stuff as the Party in Power is screwing up so they are always using the race card which only incites the young lazy black militant do nothing asshole here— more crime, etc etc needs a new party— needs an election soon.”

Mr. O’Brien told this newspaper: “I was venting. I was really mad, I was furious. I would never say anything like that unless somebody pushed me to the brink.

“I don’t consider myself a racist at all. I have so many black friends here. I wasn’t talking about black people, I was talking about certain young black men. I have had three incidents now in the last five years and I just don’t like it.

“With all this racial tension that’s going on, I’m concerned that the young people are jumping on the bandwagon. There are some that are very militant and I have had run-ins with them a couple of times.”

The father-of-three attended a meeting with Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess and Permanent Secretary Robert Horton after being told by Bermuda Hotels Association that the email had been seen by a third party and passed to Government officials.

Mr. O’Brien, his voice shaking with emotion, said: “They weren’t very happy. They were sad because they never had anything like that come out of me. They know I’m not like that. They were very let down.

“It was a total screw up and a lot of anger on my part and it happened. They realised it was a personal email from me to my friend and that somebody stole it and was trying to do a number on me.”

He said the Minister told him to send letters of apology to “a number of people” in the Ministry of Labour and Immigration, stay on his best behaviour and attend Commission for Unity and Racial Equality seminars.

“I think they are first-class,” he said of the Minister and his staff. “They were right on top of it. They went right in and investigated and did everything they had to do.”

An article about the email appeared on a news website last week and was followed up by radio and television stories at the weekend. Mr. O’Brien said he was named in the broadcast reports and now feels he has no future here.

“It’s so one-sided here,” he said. “Anyone can talk to an ex-pat any way they want but if an ex-pat says a word they are ostracised.”

Mr. O’Brien handed his notice in yesterday and plans to fly back to the States next week, eventually followed by his fiancée.

“We were supposed to get married here in November; now we won’t bother,” he said. “My board wants me to stay, my friends want me to stay, but I just don’t feel comfortable. People now look at me differently. I don’t like it. I have a lot of good friends and their feelings are hurt.”

He believes the email was taken by someone he left alone in his office with access to his computer but has not yet reported the theft to Police.

Nicholas Dill, president of the Ariel Sands board, said he was saddened to receive Mr. O’Brien’s resignation.

“I don’t really know all the facts other than what he’s briefly told me,” he said. “I think the whole thing is very unfortunate. As I understand it, this was a personal email from him to a friend and how it got into the public domain, I don’t know.

“It’s rather like taking a personal letter off my desk and I think it’s quite despicable. But, of course, two wrongs don’t make a right.”

Immigration Minister Mr. Burgess said: “I don’t think I should comment.”