MENDHAM TOWNSHIP — After more than two dozen residents spoke against his Facebook post comparing illegal immigrants to rabid raccoons, a Township Council member stepped down.

Residents described Rick Blood's post to his personal page as "disgusting," "vile," and "inherently racist" at Monday night's scheduled township council meeting, according to NorthJersey.com.

The post, which Blood said he copied and pasted from a friend, compared illegal immigration to an infestation of "rabid, messy, mean raccoons," in an attempt to explain why many voters backed President Donald Trump. Blood deleted the post on Sunday night after numerous negative comments were posted, and he apologized in a new post.

The comments went on for two hours at the end of the meeting, after which Mayor Richard P. Diegnan Jr. tried to adjourn the meeting, according to the report. Democrat council member Amalia Duarte insisted on taking action, and the members went into executive session. Diegnan announced Blood's resignation when they returned to the meeting.

The report said that during the meeting Blood again apologized and called his posting of the story "boneheaded." He did not believe that the post should lead to his resignation.

Blood also serves as the head of the Public Works department in nearby Roxbury.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ.

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