GEORGIA: White cop who said ‘we only kill black people’ to be dismissed

Cobb County police Chief Mike Register has revealed that officer Greg Abbott, the white cop who said ‘we only kill black people’ during traffic stop last year will be sacked.

The police boss said the process to terminate the employment of Lieutenant Greg Abbott has started after he made the ‘unacceptable’ comments during a traffic stop.

The local police chief said Abbott, a white police lieutenant in the US state of Georgia was recorded on video during a traffic stop saying “we only kill black people”.

The video from July 2016 shows a car stopped on the side of a road. A white woman can be heard telling Abbott she was scared to move her hands in order to get her mobile phone, local television station, WSB-TV reported.

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Abbott interrupts her and says, “But you’re not black. Remember, we only kill black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right?”

Abbott, who has been an officer in Cobb County for more than 20 years, was placed on administrative duty last week, pending an investigation.

Earlier on Thursday, Abbott’s lawyer, Lance LoRusso, said in a statement that Abbott is cooperating with the investigation, and his comments were meant to “de-
escalate a situation involving an uncooperative passenger”.

But Register said later on Thursday that regardless of the context, such comments are “unacceptable”.

“No matter what the context, statements like these are unacceptable and are not indicative of the type of culture we are trying to facilitate here in the police department, as well as within the county,” Register said in an emailed statement.

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