“We Only Kill Black People”: Video Catches Cop Reassure White Woman She Won’t Be Shot

Cobb County, GA. – A Cobb County police lieutenant has been placed on administrative duty for making comments during a DUI stop that the department deemed were “inappropriate racial comments.” 

The interaction, caught on a police dash-cam video, reveals the extreme disconnect between law enforcement and citizens, after an officer tells a woman she is about to be arrested during a DUI stop and informs her to use her cell phone to “call whoever was coming to get you.”

It’s at this point the woman wisely informs the officer that she isn’t able to call, due to her fear of being shot if she attempts to reach for her cell phone in her lap – informing the officer that she doesn’t want to put her hands down, as she says, “I’ve just seen too many videos…”  She’s then cut off by Lt. Abbot – making an obvious reference to the plethora of videos available online of police gunning people down for similar movements or less.

It’s at this moment that the officer says the unthinkable to the woman, as he responds to her stated fears of being shot by telling her,

Now, even if the officer was attempting to be ironic, or sarcastic, the fact that a public servant tasked with protecting the peace had the audacity to say something so callous to a citizen during the course of an arrest speaks volumes about the mindset of many cops.

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And while blacks are disproportionately killed by police per capita, all Americans are under threat from the scourge of rogue law enforcement agents that are trained to escalate situations, and increase force, rather than de-escalate tense situations — as is done successfully in many other countries.

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After the exclusive footage was aired by WSB-TV 2 in Atlanta, Cobb County police Chief Mike Register on Friday opened an internal investigation into the incident. He assigned the officer involved in the incident to administrative duties pending the outcome of the internal investigation.

“No matter what context it was said, it shouldn’t have been said,” Register noted.

The attorney representing the woman in the case, Suri Chadha Jimenez, said that while he believes the officer was being sarcastic after the woman “gave him some lip,” he noted that behavior such as this from a public servant is completely “unacceptable.”

“It makes you cringe when you hear it. It’s unacceptable,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez says the fear minorities have when stopped is real.

Abbott’s attorney Lance LoRusso released an ironic statement to WSB-TV 2 regarding the incident:

“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.”

The idea that telling a white passenger, who is fearful of being shot if they move their hands, that they don’t have anything to fear because they aren’t black is an attempt at de-escalation is patently absurd and reveals an insidious racial bias ingrained within the thin blue line of law enforcement.

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In typical fashion Register noted that Abbott had been a good officer and he wasn’t aware of any racial bias complaints, according to WSB-TV 2.

“We’re not making excuses. We’re meeting this head-on and we’re going to deal with it,” Register said.

Typically, in these situations, there is a minor slap on the wrist to appease an angry public, with no real consequences ever being carried out. In fact, even for the most serious of crimes, such as sexual assault accused officers are often allowed to simply resign, thus being able to continue their law enforcement career in another municipality.

The incident took place last year, prior to Register becoming police chief. And while the International Association of Chiefs of Police report gave the Cobb Police Department a high community approval rating prior to this incident, it also noted a perception of discriminatory and biased policing – as clearly evidenced in the words of Lt. Abbot.

In what is likely nothing more than a public relations move, Register said his department had responded to the IACP report by instituting a faith forum, precinct discussion groups, training changes and more.

“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,” Register said.

When an officer explicitly denotes that “we only kill black people,” it’s clear that the department is not professionally serving “all segments of the community.”

Watch the disturbing dash-cam footage below:

Exclusive: Combat Veteran Films Cops Harass & Arrest Him for ‘Pumping Gas While Black’

Smyrna, GA — Sherman Jackson is an Army veteran who served four years, fighting for his country in Iraq in 2011. But Jackson, like so many other veterans, got a rude awakening when he came home.

Sherman said one of his most traumatic times was when he had to gather the remains of his fellow soldier and friend, David Hickman, who was killed when an IED exploded. Watching his brothers in arms perish on the battlefield was devastating, but not as upsetting as his recent arrest for obstruction of justice — for sitting in his car.

Sherman, who receives complete disability from the Army, having suffered from PTSD, now spends his time hosting an AirB&B property and serving as a volunteer with Atlanta’s Meals on Wheels program.

He was visiting his brother in Smyrna, Georgia, whom he was helping move to Atlanta to live with him. Damond Jackson, Sherman’s brother, had been experiencing numerous instances of what he considered harassment by police, and Sherman was going to take him to Atlanta, where the two thought they’d be safer.

Damond’s experiences with police have left him scarred and suffering from PTSD.

After the two packed up, they started their trip from Smyrna to Atlanta but were hungry, so they planned to eat at a local Zaxby’s. But, first, they decided to fill up the tank in Sherman’s 2006 BMW 325i.

The first gas pump they tried wasn’t working, so a BP employee told them to use another one which was functioning. They circled the pumps and went to the one the employee recommended.

Sherman says his pricey car may have attracted someone’s attention, along with the fact the two men had gone to two different pumps — but, whomever it was, stopped an officer and told him the two Black men in the White BMW were “acting suspiciously.”

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After leaving the BP, they drove across the street to Zaxby’s. They parked and were getting ready to go inside. Sherman had been letting his brother drive his car, and said it was only the second time he’d ever done so. Damond was in the driver’s seat when police swooped in and blocked their egress from the parking spot.

Because they ‘fit the description’ of another group of black males, they had just been stopped for ‘pumping gas while black.’

Damond started recording right away because he knew photography is not a crime, and he wanted to document the encounter. Officer Michael Brooks approached the car and told them someone at the gas station said there were some “girls in the car.”

Damond asked why he was being blocked in by the police cruiser.

“Brooks, I haven’t done anything. Nothing!” he said. “I ain’t gotta say nothin’ bro,” he explained. “You got the wrong information from that guy. False report!”

“What have I done wrong,” Damond asked.

“I haven’t said you’ve done anything wrong,” Brooks answered.

“Am I being detained?” he questioned.

Brooks said he was being detained for his behavior. “If anybody else did this I’d be acting the same way,” he said.

Understandably, Damond got angry, but Sherman tried to calm down his brother.

“This is White people area, bro. We ain’t supposed to be here,” the former soldier explained.

“This shit happens to me all the time, bro!” Damond said.

“This is the first time I’ve seen it,” Sherman told his brother.

After backup officers arrived to investigate why the two Black men were parking while being Black, Damond attempted, once again, to explain himself to a Smyrna Police Department Sergeant.

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“I need a supervisor here. You have to come here. I’m asking you to come here. That is not obstruction. I have done nothing to get arrested for,” he implored.

Sergeant Cason approached the car and explained that someone called the police because the complainant said the men were engaged in “some type of suspicious activity.”

Damond asked, “What is this investigation about, for pumping gas?”

“Pumping gas is suspcious activity?” he asked again.

Sherman was arrested, first for “obstruction of justice,” for failing to show his ID. The former soldier and war veteran explained to the officer that he was aware of his rights and knew that the only reason why he had to show his ID was if he had purchased or was in possession of a firearm, was drinking, or was driving.

“At this point, he was just trying to intimidate me,” Sherman said, calling it a “donkey show.”

Damond was arrested for “obstruction of justice” and “possession” of less than two grams of marijuana, a misdemeanor.

Sherman, the former soldier who’s on full medical disability, did explain to the officer that he was a disabled veteran, as exhibited on his license plate; but, “he didn’t care.”

“Race had everything to do with it,” he said, adding, “I’m pretty sure if I had been a White man or White woman, I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have happened at all.”

Damond, who’s been arrested on many occasions but has never been convicted of any felonies, says most of his charges were for “obstruction” or “disorderly conduct” — and his run-ins with the law have left him traumatized:

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“I’ve been harassed since I turned 18. Most of the time I’m so scared that I’m going to get shot, I don’t even reach for my cell phone to record.”

While in jail in 2008 — where he spent 3 months, even though later all charges were dropped against him — he says he was tortured for giving out an extra Kool-aid to a fellow inmate.

“The cop put me in a choke-hold. Other cops came and handcuffed me behind my back, shackled me, and beat me when I was in Cobb County jail,” he said describing why he’s now receiving disability benefits for PTSD.

In the video, one can clearly see Damond was upset, as the footage is shaky from the cell phone being held in his hands. Sherman and Damond are both planning to sue.

“I want people to know police harassment is real,” he said. “It’s out there. If it doesn’t happen to them, they might not think so…but it’s happening to Black males with dreadlocks.”

“I’m never going back to Cobb County, Georgia,” Sherman said, thankful he and his brother eventually made it to Atlanta. Sherman got out of jail a few days ago, after spending 30 hours behind bars for not presenting his identification. Damond spent three days in jail — where he caught the flu and had to be hospitalized.