The Georgia police lieutenant who said cops “only kill black people” during a traffic stop, will be fired, the police chief said Thursday.
The Georgia police lieutenant who said cops « only kill black people » during a traffic stop, will be fired, the police chief said Thursday.
« I have known Lt. (Greg) Abbott for years and perceived him as honorable, but he’s made a mistake, » Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. « I don’t know what is in his heart, but I know what came out of his mouth. We recommend that he be terminated and we are moving forward on that. »
During a DUI stop last month, Abbott was recorded on dash-cam video telling the driver, « Remember, we only kill black people. »
The officer’s statement was in response to the driver telling the lieutenant she was afraid to move her hands because she had « just seen way too many videos of cops… »
GEORGIA POLICE OFFICER AT DUI STOP: ‘WE ONLY KILL BLACK PEOPLE’
« But you’re not black, » Abbott said to the driver. « Remember, we only shoot black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed? »
The dash-cam video was timestamped July 10,2016, but it was brought to light on Wednesday after Channel 2 Action News obtained the dash-cam video and submitted an open-records request and the police chief and his command staff looked into it.
Register, who was not police chief during the time of the video, said Abbott’s comments were « inappropriate » for a cop to say.
« I wish Lt. Abbott well. But I think that was very inappropriate for any police officer to say that, but especially one of our leaders in the department, » the chief reportedly said.
Abbott was on the force for 28 years.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
