Georgia Officer Who Said “We Only Kill Black People” Resigns As Department Moves To Fire Him (Source buzzfeed.com)

A Georgia police officer who told a white woman during a traffic stop she had nothing to worry about because “we only kill black pe ople” resigned Thursday after the department announced he would be fired.

After watching the footage and conducting an internal investigation, Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register said Thursday that the department was going to fire Lt. Greg Abbott, emphasizing that the comments were “inexcusable and inappropriate.” “I’ve known Abbott for a number of years, always perceived him to be an honorable man, and he made a mistake,” Register told reporters. “I don’t know what’s in his heart, but I know what’s in his mouth, and it’s not appropriate.” After being notified of his impending termination, the lieutenant decided to retire Thursday afternoon, his attorney, Lance LoRusso, told BuzzFeed News. In the video of the July 2016 traffic stop recently obtained by WSB Channel 2 News, a nervous woman can be heard telling Abbott that she’s afraid to put her hands down to get her cell phone because “she’s seen way too many videos of cops…”

She trails off and Abbott interjects, standing at the passenger side window, “But you’re not black. Remember, we only kill black people. Yeah. We only kill black people, right?” “All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen any white people get killed?” he continues.