ga cop to scared white woman: don’t worry, “we only kill black people”

As a black resident and tax payer of Cobb County (aka Count On Being Busted County), I was absolutely delighted to discover that white Cobb County Police Lt. Greg Abbott and the Cobb County Police “only kill black people, right?”

In a dash cam video from last summer, Lt. Greg Abbott can be seen addressing the passenger of a car after pulling it over for suspected DUI. The white female passenger tells Abbott that she’s afraid to drop her fallen cell phone because “I’ve just seen way too many videos of cops … ”

Abbott—apparently trying to reassure her—says “But you’re not black. Remember, we only shoot black people,” the police veteran of nearly three decades can be heard saying. “Yeah. We only kill black people, right? All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?”

As a black Cobb County resident who pays Lt. Greg Abbott’s salary and subsequently his mortgage, and for the food he feeds his family, I find his on-duty conduct to be utterly disgusting.

“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 28-year vet, apparently, has yet to learn of a single better way to reassure white citizens other than to reinforce the notion that police brutality and murder are only reserved for black people.

Since the revelation of the dash cam footage, Cobb County PD doesn’t seem to grasp the severity of Lt. Greg Abbott’s comments, as he has simply been pulled from the squad car and placed elsewhere in the department, and the fact that his comments were made at the expense of the trust (or what was left of it) of every single black citizen in Cobb County.

Cobb County Commission Chairman Mike Boyce is quoted in a statement saying, “I have seen the video and obviously have great concerns. I find the comments on the video repugnant and offensive beyond measure.” Cool. Then why does Mr. Abbott still work there?

While the incident took place July 2016 before the now Cobb County Police Chief Mike took over in his current position, he claims not to have heard or seen the video until last Friday, telling Channel 2 “No matter what context it was said, it shouldn’t have been said[…]We are going to keep going forward to make sure we, as a police department, serving the community in a most professional way. All segments of the community,” Register said.

Updated: During a press conference on Thursday, Police Chief Register announced that Lt. Abbott would be fired for the remarks made on camera saying, “There is no place for those types of comments. This badge and uniform should mean justice and fairness for all.

“I have known Lieutenant Abbott for years and perceive 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.”

Rather than be held accountable for his actions, Lt. Abbott sent a letter of resignation during the conference, despite being notified that he would be fired.