Georgia cop recorded telling woman 'we only shoot black people' will be fired

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last updated 1 September 2017

A Cobb County, Georgia, police lieutenant will be fired after being caught on camera telling a white woman during a traffic stop not to worry because "we only kill black people."

Atlanta's WSB-TV obtained dashcam footage from 2016 that showed the incident unfold. The woman said she was afraid to move her hands because she had seen videos of police brutality, and the officer, identified as Lt. Greg Abbott, is heard responding: "Remember, we only kill black people. We only kill black people, right?" Police Chief Mike Register told WSB the footage was taken during a DUI stop, and "no matter what context it was said, it shouldn't have been said."

Abbott's attorney, Lance LoRusso, told WSB in a statement his client's "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." Abbott, a 25-year veteran of the force, had been placed on administrative leave during an internal investigation into the matter.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

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