TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) -- A Florida state senator from Miami who used racial slurs and obscene insults during an after-hours conversation with other lawmakers is being stripped of his chairmanship.
Senate President Joe Negron removed Republican Sen. Frank Artiles as chairman of the Communications, Energy and Public Utilities Committee on Wednesday.
Artiles, a Cuban-American, made a public apology Wednesday on the Senate Floor for the insults hurled at African-American Democratic Sens. Perry Thurston and Audrey Gibson at a private club near the Capitol on Monday night.
Artiles, a former state House member, was elected to the Senate in November over former Democratic state Sen. Dwight Bullard, who is African-American.
