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Houston County trainer criticized for racist remarks in viral leaked videos

Videos show Mark Taylor making racist slurs toward a Black woman driving in downtown Atlanta and saying someone named "Ro" would hang the woman from a tree.

WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — He's been fired, served prison time, and even banished from a county, but now, a sports trainer based in Houston County is under fire again.

Videos posted on social media show Mark Taylor making racist remarks.

Those videos have now gone viral with thousands of shares.

"Ain't seen a white person in sight. Homeless ones on the street. Every restaurant looking in here is Black. Every car beside me is Black. They can have Atlanta," Taylor said. 

That comment is just one of the "milder" racist remarks that Mark Taylor said on camera. 

Videos show Taylor making racist slurs toward a Black woman driving in downtown Atlanta and saying someone named "Ro" would hang the woman from a tree. They show him using the N-word several times.

"He shouldn't be around kids. He shouldn't have a privilege of being around a coach to any athlete. Our parents need to know what they're walking into," said Karen Buckman. Buckman is one of many parents speaking out against the trainer. Several students and coaches have also called out the trainer. 

Taylor offers personal training for kids 8 and up in football, basketball, track, and other sports.    

Buckman says Taylor trained her son for three years through his private company, Speed Edge Sports.

"You don't have to be a parent of a Black child or any person of color to be horrified or think this is horrendous," Buckman said. 

On his company's Facebook page, Taylor markets himself as a former Georgia Bulldog football player, GHSA Track Coach of the Year six times, and personal connections to SEC coaches like Kirby Smart and Nick Saban.

Taylor is a former Northside Middle School teacher and coach, and in 2007, he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of influencing a witness.

He was accused that same year of stalking and harassing his ex-fiancée, who was also a teacher.

Houston County Schools fired Taylor from his teaching and coaching jobs in 2007, and he was banished from the county.

"When he had a hard time and went to prison, and he came back to our community to coach. We supported him. For him to bite the hand that feeds him adds a brick to this complicated and sick situation," Buckman said. 

We reached out to Taylor by phone and by email. He has not responded.

Taylor rented a space at Central Fellowship Christian Academy to train students. 

The academy released a statement saying they give "no room for racism" and that they have ended the relationship with Taylor and his training company. 

They say he was never a school employee. 

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