Mayor Joseph Maturo of East Haven came under fire Wednesday for telling a television reporter that he “might have tacos” following questions regarding how he would support the Latino community.

His comments come after the Tuesday arrest of four town police officers accused of systematic mistreatment of the city’s Latino residents. Federal officials announced that the four officers were charged with multiple counts of excessive force, false arrest, obstruction and conspiracy.

In an interview with MSNBC, Gov. Dannel Malloy said Maturo’s comments were “repugnant” and “unacceptable.” Others called for Maturo’s resignation.

Maturo issued a public statement Wednesday, apologizing for his “insensitive and off-collar comment.”

“Unfortunately, I let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already a serious and unfortunate situation,” he said. “I am dedicated to the principles of tolerance and acceptance of all and will do all that I can to foster those principles in the daily execution of my duties as mayor.”

Maturo added that his administration has already started the “healing process,” commissioning a new advisory panel to recommend policy changes to the Board of Police Commissioners and appointing community volunteer Jose Velasquez to the panel.

A Facebook group created Wednesday titled “East Haven Taxpayers Calling for Mayor Maturo to Resign” garnered over 200 likes as of Wednesday afternoon.

The controversial remarks come at about 1:35 of the video below:

Watch the original video here.