Georgia cop at traffic stop: ‘We only shoot black people’
ATLANTA — Saying America was watching, Cobb County officials Thursday announced plans to fire a police lieutenant who told a woman during a traffic stop that “we only shoot black people.”
But Lt. Greg Abbott sent an email to the county announcing that he plans to retire, even as the police chief was on live television saying Abbott would be terminated, according to Cobb County Commission Chairman Mike Boyce. Boyce said he was unsure how that development would affect the decision to fire the lieutenant.
The racial comments by Abbott, who is white, only surfaced this week, when WSB-TV aired video from Abbott's dash cam from a July 10, 2016, traffic stop. Abbott has been on the Cobb force for 28 years.
“Remember, we only shoot black people,” Abbott says on the video. “Yeah. We only kill black people, right?” He was speaking to a white woman who was a passenger in a car that had been pulled over for DUI.
At a news conference Thursday afternoon in Marietta, Police Chief Mike Register said, “There is no place for those types of comments. This badge and uniform should mean justice and fairness for all.
“I have known Lieutenant Abbott for years and perceive him as honorable, but he's made a mistake. 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.”
Register said the recommendation to fire Abbott came from his command staff. Register notified Abbott of the recommendation Thursday morning.
“Not only is Cobb County watching, but America is watching what we do to respond to these events,” Boyce said at the news conference. “What we told America today is that we are different. We believe in the rule of law. We believe in equal justice. We have a long way to go, but our journey is forward.”
According to the date stamp on the police video, Abbott's encounter with the woman occurred July 10, 2016. That was just four days after Minnesota police shot and killed Philando Castile, a beloved cafeteria supervisor at a Montessori school, whose last moments were recorded by his girlfriend on her phone.
“In this environment, with sensitivities running high, it is inappropriate, for any police officer, but especially one of our leaders,” Register said.
Ben Williams, president of the Cobb Southern Christian Leadership Conference, and Deane Bonner, president of the county's NAACP chapter, both attended the announcement and said they were satisfied with the department's decision.
“Police misconduct is not news,” Williams said. “The real story here is the behavior of this police chief in Cobb County ... . To be here today and stand with Chief Register as he pulls the shades up and exposes the sunrise ... is news.”
The footage obtained by WSB-TV shows the officer speaking through the car window to the female passenger. The police had already arrested the driver of the car in which the woman was riding and placed him in a squad car.
The woman tells Abbott she is afraid to reach for her cellphone because “I've just seen way too many videos of cops ...” At that point, Abbott cuts her off.
“But you're not black,” he says. “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?”