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A Georgia police officer is under fire after dash-cam video surfaced where you can hear him tell a white woman that police officers “only kill black people.”
The Cobb County officer, Lt. Greg Abbott, was seen standing outside of the nervous woman’s vehicle after a DUI traffic stop from July 2016.
Abbott can be heard telling the woman “use your phone, it’s in your lap right there.” The woman replies “Ok, I just don’t want to put my hands down…I’m really sorry I just…I’ve just seen way too many videos of cops…”
“But you’re not black, remember we only shoot black people,” Abbott replied. “Yeah, we only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen black people
get killed? You have.”
Police chief Mike Register told reporters on Thursday that he is recommending termination of Abbott’s employment, and added that he has already begun the process.
Watch the dash-cam coverage below:
The Washington Post reported that “Chief Mike Register received information last week about the ‘inappropriate racial comments,’ and the officer was placed on administrative duties during an internal investigation.”
An attorney representing the driver in the case believes Abbott was being “sarcastic” after she “gave him some lip.”
“No matter what the context, statements like these are unacceptable and are not indicative of the type of culture we are trying to facilitate here in the police department, as well as within the county,” Register told the Post.
WSB-TV, who obtained the video, reported that the chief assigned Abbott to “administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.”
In a statement given to WSB, Abbot’s attorney Lance LoRusso said:
Lt. Greg Abbott is a highly respected 28-year veteran of the Cobb County Police Department. He is cooperating with the department’s internal investigation and will continue to do so. His comments must be observed in their totality to understand their context. He was attempting to de-escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger. In context, his comments were clearly aimed at attempting to gain compliance by using the passenger’s own statements and reasoning to avoid making an arrest. The officer should be grateful she asked permission, too many don’t and end up paying a price for it.
Social Media Reacts
Many are taking to social media to express their outrage and opinions.
“Police officer tells woman ‘we only kill black people’ yet everyone is upset about Kappernick kneeling,” @TibertanWolf tweeted.
https://twitter.com/Robben1810/status/903278345605042176
Wade Van Harpen posted his feelings regarding the situation to Facebook:
She was completely in the right for indicating permission to reach for something during a traffic stop, you can’t be too careful no matter if it may seem silly to the officer. The way she did it was a little insensitive saying that she has seen too many videos but either way the police officer should not answer with sarcasm. Its too bad, he will definitely be reprimanded and it could have all been simply avoided if he would have just said, go ahead and pick it up.
“You gotta be really comfortable to say “We only kill Black People” while the dash cam is rolling,” @SINcere_NYC tweeted:
You gotta be really comfortable to say “We only kill Black People” while the dash cam is rolling.
t.co/m50TClF3Sd
“A cop to console a White Women saying “We Only Kill Black People” proves that RACISM is institutionalized in our Criminal Justice System,” @_SJPeace_ stated.
A cop to console a White Women saying “We Only Kill Black People” proves that RACISM is institutionalized in our Criminal Justice System
See more reactions below:
Have you heard the audio of the cobb county cop saying we only kill black people?? They come straight out and tell you black lives are jokes
https://twitter.com/3EyedFinn/status/903068978314137601
She was white and *assured* by a police officer that “We only kill Black people.” t.co/AZ1uzzNeVv