NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Tennessee Highway Patrol trooper is under investigation into allegations that he forwarded a racist e-mail on the state's computer system.

Video: Trooper At Center Of Inappropriate E-Mail Probe

Trooper Brent Gobbell, who is white, was placed on administrative leave with pay last Friday, according to spokeswoman Sgt. Stacy Heatherly.

The e-mail, which appears to be a chain e-mail, includes a string of racial epithets toward various ethnic groups. According to a sergeant from the THP, it was forwarded to a number of state employees.

"I was very disturbed, it's unacceptable," said State Rep. Brenda Gilmore of Nashville. "The fact that he's going to be interacting with minorities and other ethnic groups, and if he has these kinds of attitudes, I just wonder how fair and equitable he can be."

THP spokesman Mike Browning said the agency does not condone the language in the e-mail and said officers and other employees receive diversity training and sign an agreement not to misuse e-mail.

Each department in Tennessee state government has its own policies concerning e-mail and computers, said General Services spokeswoman Lola Potter.

Below is a statement from the Nashville branch of the NAACP on the matter:

"This is a very sad, troubling and unfortunate incident. The Nashville Branch of the NAACP is reserving full comments on this incident until we are able to review the entire contents of the e-mail forwarded by Trooper Brent Gobbell and any other material related to this case. The Nashville Branch of the NAACP is concerned that this type of a lapse in judgment and behavior raises the relevant question of how Trooper Brent Gobbell has conducted himself as a state trooper, what are his views on race as a state trooper are since he deals with the public and if his personal views on race have had an impact or baring on how he has conducted his job as a person in authority."