Georgia officer fired after telling woman “We only kill black people”

A Cobb County police lieutenant has been fired after dash-cam footage appeared to showed the officer telling a woman, “Remember, we only kill black people.”

Lieutenant Greg Abbot pulled over a driver for a DUI check in July 2016. When he asked a female passenger to grab her cellphone, she told him she was nervous about moving her hands, because she had “just seen way too many videos,” reported Channel 2 Action News.

Abbot then responded, “But, you’re not black. Remember, we only shoot black people. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?”

The incident apparently occurred more than a year ago, but an information request from Channel 2 brought it back into the public light. The AJC has reported on the department’s struggle to address community “perceptions of racism.”

Abbot’s attorney said the comments were taken out of context. In a statement, his lawyer told Channel 2 that Abbot was attempting to de-escalate the situation because the driver was being resistant.

“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.”

After first saying Abbott would remain on administrative duty, Chief Mike Register announced at a press conference Thursday that Abbott would be terminated. Abbott announced his resignation at the same time.

“I have known Lt. (Greg) Abbott for years and perceived 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.

This story was originally published September 1, 2017 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Georgia officer fired after telling woman “We only kill black people”."