San Francisco's mayor apologizes for remarks made about Hondurans

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San Francisco Mayor London Breed apologized for comments she made this month suggesting that "a lot of" Hondurans are drug dealers.

During KQED-FM's "Political Breakdown" show on Oct. 5, Breed discussed her initiatives for public safety and economic development and how the November elections might influence her agenda.

In response to a question regarding the city’s approximately 1,700 overdoses since 2020, she said: "There are unfortunately a lot of people who come from a particular country — from Honduras. And a lot of the people who are dealing that drug happen to be of that ethnicity," referring to fentanyl.

She added it was not about racial profiling, saying, “We all know it, it’s the reality. It’s what you see. It’s what’s out there,” referring to the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, home to many Latino immigrant families.

As the video of her remarks circulated, some began condemning Breed for scapegoating the city’s Honduran community.

But Carlos Solorzano-Cuadra, CEO at The Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco, told NBC Bay Area’s Gia Vang that he accepts her apology because she meant well.

In the interview, Solorzano-Cuadra refers to his group’s 2018 study, which found most drug sellers in the Tenderloin’s neighborhood were juveniles from Honduras looking to make money to send back home to their families. There is a "but," though, he told Vang.

“We also have to understand that we’re not naming only one ethnicity. That is not good enough anymore,” Solorzano-Cuadra said. “With all the turmoil that we have between the Latino community, the African American, the Asian communities, we need to work more together. So, we need to be more conscious of what we say, when we’re pointing fingers especially on that.”

Breed apologized Wednesday for her comments.

“In trying to explain what is happening in the Tenderloin, I failed to accurately and comprehensively discuss what is an incredibly complex situation in our City and in Central America," she said in a statement.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com