Investigation launched after Georgia police department uses photo of Black man for target practice

A Georgia chief of police denied his division is racist and issued an apology after they got here underneath hearth for utilizing a Black man’s picture as a goal at a firearms security class that was organized for civilians. In keeping with NBC Information, the Villa Rica Police Division additionally shared the images in query on its Fb web page.

Photographs circulating on social media confirmed a picture of a Black man getting used as a goal and attendees pointing their weapons at it – through the occasion organized by the Villa Rica Police Division on Saturday. The goal picture used exhibits a Black man in a beanie aiming a gun.

Although the police division later deleted the images it posted on its Fb web page, screenshots that have been taken and extensively circulated have sparked outrage on social media. Following the backlash, the Villa Rica Police Division on Wednesday launched an announcement on Fb saying it was by no means their “intention to be insensitive, inflammatory or offensive to anybody.”

“Nevertheless, we respect the trustworthy opinions of our fellow residents and apologize for any offense we might have prompted,” the police division added. 

Villa Rica police additionally mentioned the targets it used within the firearms class “depict reasonable human pictures and have been a part of a package deal which included goal pictures of individuals from numerous ethnic teams.” The division’s chief of police, Michael Mansour, instructed NBC Information that the officer who shared simply the images of Black targets did that by mistake.

“It’s simply an harmless mistake, nevertheless it was a mistake,” Mansour mentioned. “And I’m very clear in saying that we tousled. However at no time will I settle for individuals telling me I’m a racist, or our division is a racist as a result of we made a mistake.”

This provides as much as different incidents the place police departments have been condemned for utilizing pictures of Black individuals for goal observe. Final 12 months, a authorized overview was initiated by a Michigan police division after pictures of Black males getting used as targets have been circulated.

In a Wednesday interview with The Telegraph, Villa Rica Mayor, Gil McDougal, mentioned the images had left him feeling “personally embarrassed,” including that the “incident doesn’t replicate the values of this neighborhood.” An investigation into the division has since been opened by the mayor.

The NAACP of Carroll County additionally labeled the goal as “extraordinarily offensive” and requested to satisfy with metropolis officers to speak concerning the incident. “These kinds of targets have been utilized by different police departments inside the U.S. and have been deemed racially inappropriate and unacceptable,” NAACP Carroll County president, Dominique Conteh, acknowledged.