A Cobb County, Georgia, police officer stepped down Thursday because of the furor over five words he told a woman during a traffic stop. The racial character of his utterance cost him his job.
The exchange was caught on the officer's dash camera, and aired on a local television news show Wednesday.
“OK I just don’t want to put my hands down,” the woman said to the officer, saying that she had seen, “way too many videos of cops,” and trailed off inaudibly.
“But you’re not black,” the officer responded to her. “Remember, we only shoot black people."
"Yeah. We only kill black people, right?" he added. "All the videos you’ve seen, have you seen the black people get killed?”
Lieutenant Greg Abbott retired from the police force after 27 years of service to the community Thursday.
Earlier Thursday it had been reported that Abbott was simply re-assigned, but later his lawyer released a statement informing the public that he had retired altogether.
Cobb County Police Chief Mike Register said that although he believed Abbot to be an honorable man, that they would be seeking to fire him.
“I don’t know what’s in his heart but I certainly know what came out of his mouth, and it’s inexcusable,” Register told reporters.