Yesterday, the Department of Justice charged four East Haven, Connecticut police officers with "conspiring to violate, and violating, the civil rights" of Latinos: Sergeant John Miller and Officers David Cari, Dennis Spaulding and Jason Zullo are accused of "conspir[ing] to injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate various members of the East Haven community in violation of their constitutional rights... In some cases, the victims were handcuffed with their hands behind their backs when officers assaulted them." And what was the East Haven mayor's reaction? It's time for some Mexican grub!

WPIX reporter Mario Diaz spoke to Mayor Joe Maturo about the arrests, and Maturo blew the answer:

When pressed with the issue again about tensions in the Latino community and a police force with no Latino representation, the mayor scoffed at the facts.

"And your point being?" he said.

When asked about his plans for outreach in the Latino community, Maturo quipped with a racially-charged response.

"I might have tacos when I go home. I'm not quite sure yet," he mockingly responded.

Further, Maturo said, "I have spent two years in Puerto Rico. I will probably do the same thing for the Latino community—" then Diaz said, "That's not really the comment to say right now..." But Maturo continued, "I might have spaghetti tonight, being of Italian descent. I've had ethnic food, and when you asked me what I was doing for Latinos tonight, I may go out and have a Latino dinner in the Latino community. There is nothing wrong with that."

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy said, "The comments by East Haven Mayor Joseph Maturo are repugnant. They represent either a horrible lack of judgment or worse, an underlying insensitivity to our Latino community that is unacceptable. Being tired is no excuse. He owes an apology to the community, and more importantly, he needs to show what he's going to do to repair the damage he's done. And he needs to do it today."

Maturo apologized for his remarks, "The question that was asked, 'what are you going to do tonight?' was not, like I said, an in-depth question. I did not give an in-depth answer," and claimed the question was flippant. The exact question was, "What are you doing for the Latino community tonight?" which doesn't seem so flippant. Watch the exchange:

According to the NY Times, East Haven Police Chief Leonard Gallo allegedly tried to get a parish priest, who was arrested while videotaping the accused cops, moved. And about Gallo... "Mayor Joseph Maturo Jr. of East Haven, who served from 1997 to 2007 and was then returned to office in 2011, said he stood by the police force. When he took office again, Mr. Maturo reinstated Chief Gallo, who had been put on paid leave by the previous mayor after the Justice Department began its investigation."

Maturo told the Times, "I’m still very surprised, and it’s a sickening feeling to have your officers arrested, but nevertheless they’re innocent until proven guilty." But, interestingly, the chairman of the Board of Police Commissioners Fred Brow "had no quarrel with the overall picture the indictment and the December report painted of the department and its dealings with Hispanic residents. And he said it was irresponsible for the mayor to have returned Chief Gallo to his job."

The DOJ says that Officer Spaulding should be banned from entering East Haven because of his alleged reign of terror. One man told WPIX's Diaz, "The harshest form of intimidation came from officer Spaulding. He ripped my license in front of me while my car was parked. I wasn't even driving."