In a time where videos of victims of police brutality are plastered across social media, a Cobb County, Georgia police officer makes light of shooting unarmed black people.
Footage from July 2016 shows a white officer identified as Lt. Greg Abbott joking with a white woman during a traffic stop about police involved shootings.
“But you’re not black. Remember, we only shoot black people,” the police veteran of nearly three decades can be heard saying in the cam footage. “Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?”
Abbott's statements came around the same time of the police shootings of Minnesota man Philando Castile and Baton Rouge resident Alton Sterling. According to Channel 2 Action News, the station's request for the cam footage launched an internal investigation into Abbott's statements.
“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,” Chief Mike Register said.
Lance LoRusso, Abbott’s attorney, gave Channel 2 Action News 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.”