Columbia police officer suspended after using racial slur in heated scene in Five Points
The Columbia Police Department has suspended an officer who was recorded on video repeating a racial slur.
Police apologized for the “inappropriate, disrespectful words, behavior and actions” of Sgt. Chad Walker, a 14-year veteran of the department.
“It is evident the actions of Sgt. Walker were a clear failure to fulfill the expectations and standards of our department,” Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said in a news release.
On Sunday, protesters outside police department headquarters called on Walker to quit.
The incident happened Saturday night in front of Bar None in Five Points. That’s on Harden Street, in between Devine and Blossom streets.
Walker, a white officer, got into a heated confrontation with multiple people outside of the bar, video of the incident shows. With at least three other white police officers looking on, Walker can be heard using the word n----- at least twice, while claiming the offensive term was directed at him.
It happened at about 11 p.m., after Walker found several violations of Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive order to stop the service and consumption of alcohol, according to police.
Police said Walker’s body camera captured audio of a man calling him the racial slur while leaving the bar. Holbrook said the body camera footage will be released in its entirety.
Once outside, Walker got into a heated exchange with several people.
While talking to a white man about his use of the discriminatory insult, Walker pivots and points to a Black man that the officer said used the slur, the video shows.
The Black man then stepped toward Walker, disputing any use of the vulgar word, according to the video.
While pointing at the Black man and saying the slur was captured on his body camera, video shows Walker yelling, “You got mad because I told you you couldn’t drink your drink so you called me that word.”
After a woman interceded and escorted the Black man away from the scene, Walker continued to follow.
“All you’re doing is calling me ignorant. That’s what that word means. If you’d like to call yourself ignorant, keep saying it,” video shows Walker saying.
Comments from other people in the crowd behind him prompted Walker to spin and turn his attention back toward the first person he was arguing with in the video.
“Actually if you look in the dictionary ... you know the book that you open and read? That thing,” Walker said.
A second video shows the confrontation continuing, with Walker again yelling, “Who cares what color I am? The laws are the laws.”
At that point other officers begin to step in to distance their colleague away from the crowd, video shows. A woman in the crowd also played the role of peacemaker, as she is seen on video calmly telling Walker multiple times, “Sir, everything is done here,” as the crowd dispersed.
“I never called anybody a derogatory word. I was actually called a derogatory word,” Walker continued as the crowd continues to thin out before the video ends.
“The officer’s behavior is inexcusable and completely inconsistent with what the Columbia Police Department and citizens expect from officers,” police tweeted in response to some people who posted the video online. “We are better than his actions. Rest assured that this incident is under investigation by South Region Command.”
Later in the news release, Holbrook said he shared “the public’s outrage and frustration regarding the highly offensive and disrespectful incident.”
Holbrook suspended Walker without pay pending the outcome of a disciplinary command review board process, which is standard protocol, according to police.
“The repetition of the racial slur and failure to deescalate the situation were inexcusable,” Holbrook said. “Our officers are trained to serve as leaders and to deescalate confrontations of potentially volatile situations.”
“We hold our Columbia Police Department to high standards of leadership in civil community engagement,” Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin said on Twitter. “We are thankful to responsible citizens for alerting us to unacceptable officer actions, & to Chief Skip Holbrook for his swift, decisive response.”
The incident occurred after two days of peaceful protests and marches in Columbia. They were spurred, in part, by the recent shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Blake’s shooting is the latest in a string of high-profile shootings of Black people across the nation this year. They have sparked a summer of protest and unrest in cities small and large, from coast to coast, including in Columbia.
Joshua Ruffin, 17, was shot and killed by Columbia police in April. The officer who shot Ruffin was not charged following an investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, whose findings were reviewed by 5th Circuit Solicitor Byron Gipson.
Ruffin’s family and local activists have demanded a federal investigation into the case.
This is a developing story, check back for more updates.
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Holbrook’s statement
“After reviewing the video from last night in Five Points, it is evident the actions of Sgt. (Chad) Walker were a clear failure to fulfill the expectations and standards of our Department. The repetition of the racial slur and failure to deescalate the situation were inexcusable. Our officers are trained to serve as leaders and to deescalate confrontations of potentially volatile situations. Although I am embarrassed and disappointed in the Sergeant’s actions, I was encouraged to see a junior officer intervene and remove Walker from the situation, potentially stopping further escalation.”
Additionally, Chief Holbrook would like to thank our citizens, community leaders, especially Building Better Communities, for sharing their concerns about the incident.
The Columbia Police Department will continue to work to earn the trust of the community that it serves. The actions exhibited last night are not a true representation of the courageous CPD men and women who proudly wear the police uniform. We will be accountable to the public we serve.
SOURCE: Columbia Police Department
This story was originally published August 30, 2020 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Columbia police officer suspended after using racial slur in heated scene in Five Points."
