A Cobb County lieutenant has been moved to administrative duty after making what the department called “inappropriate racial comments.” In dash cam footage from 2016 that was released this week, you can hear #GregAbbott suggest that cops “only kill black people.”
He had a woman pull over during a DUI traffic stop, but the woman explained that she was too afraid to move her hands from the steering wheel. The unidentified woman said, “I’ve just seen way too many videos of cops,” to which Abbott replied, “But you’re not black. Remember, we only shoot black people,” the 30 year police veteran of said.
“Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?” he continued.
Mike Register took over as the chief of Cobb police after Abbott was fired and says that Abbott will remain on administrative duty pending the investigation.
“No matter what context it was said, it shouldn’t have been said,” Register tell Channel 2. “We are going to keep going forward to make sure we, as a police department, service the community in a most professional way. All segments of the community,” Register said.
Via Channel 2 Action News:
Lance LoRusso, Abbott’s attorney, gave the station this statement:
“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.”
You guys can view the clip below:
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Source: http://www.ajc.com/news/local/cobb-cop-during-traffic-stop-remember-only-shoot-black-people/I3RAuy3GVMmoM4WsXBGN7H/
