‘ARE YOU SERIOUS?’

White Cop Fired in South Carolina for Repeatedly Using Racial Slur on Tape After People Asked Him to Stop

Several people outside SC bar asked white officer to stop, but footage shows he continued, claiming he was only using the word to reference that it had been used against him.

The Columbia, South Carolina, Police Department has fired a white officer who was recorded on video repeating a racial slur to people who repeatedly asked him to stop. “We will continue to hold each other to the professional, ethical, and moral standards expected by our citizens and place the highest priority on maintaining public trust,” Chief W.H. ‘Skip’ Holbrook said in a press release. “As I’ve stated before, when setbacks occur and mistakes are made, we must be willing to acknowledge them, fix them, learn from them, and continue to move forward together.”

Video of the incident circulating online shows Walker using the n-word at least twice, while claiming he is only using the offensive term to illustrate his claim that it had been previously directed at him. Police said Walker’s body camera captured audio of a Black man calling him the racial slur while leaving the bar. Holbrook said the body-camera footage will be released in its entirety. In the video, one man asks “Are you serious?” after Walker uses the slur. “Can you stop saying that word please?” another person says. Walker then appears to double down, claiming he had the right to repeat the offensive term. “He can say it to me, but I can’t say it to him?” Walker asked, pointing at the Black man.