Chad Walker was fired by the Columbia Police Department after video showed him shouting the N-word during a confrontation with bar patrons.
A Columbia Police Department sergeant seen on viral video shouting the n-word during a tense confrontation with bar patrons has been fired in South Carolina, authorities said.
Chad Walker, a 14-year veteran, had previously been suspended without pay following the Saturday night incident, which was captured on cellphone video that immediately went viral.
A police review board voted unanimously Monday night to terminate Walker after ruling he violated performance and courtesy guidelines governing the conduct of officers, according to a statement. The firing took effect immediately.
Walker has not commented publicly about the heated exchange captured on video. In a statement provided to Inside Edition Digital, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers' Association said:
"The Columbia Police Department under the leadership of Chief Skip Holbrook is a 21st Century Police Agency that holds true to its values of transparency and community policing. The actions of one officer in one incident is not representative of the Agency as a whole. Law enforcement officers are held to the highest standard and rightfully so. Officers are trained to deescalate tense situations on a daily basis and that training was not utilized in this incident.”
The exchange occurred after police arrived at a Five Corners tavern and found several violations of a state order concerning the sale and consumption of alcoholic beverages, the chief said.
A man wearing a COVID-19 mask is seen confronting Walker, who is white, telling him he is “talking to these people of color as if they are less than human.”
The officer then uses the racial slur twice, saying a Black man called him that. The Black man says he didn't call the officer that word and the two argue about it, as others watch.
“He can say it to me, but I can’t say it to him?” Walker says, pointing to the Black man. “The gentleman right there that called me a n****r?" Walker responded, pointing at the Black man before repeating the claim, and the word, again.
"Are you serious?" a patron can be heard saying.
"You're white!" someone else shouts.
“Who cares what color I am? He called me a word,” Walker responds.
Another patron tells the cop to “grow up” and “lead by example,” and then another officer steps in front of Walker and leads him away from the group.
On Monday night, the police chief said, “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.
“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.”
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