2023-06-23 14:51:00
US state of Georgia The photo of a black man as a target: Police cause outrage with shooting training
Practice at a shooting range: In Georgia, a police station used photos of a black man as a target.
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06/23/2023, 4:51 p.m. 2 min.
A police department in the US state of Georgia has held a course on handling weapons for citizens. The targets used have brought her severe criticism.
Police in Villa Rica, Georgia, have sparked outrage following they used photos of a black man as a target at a gun practice event where civilians might practice. The mayor of the small town west of Atlanta, Gil McDougal, has launched an investigation into the incident, as he reported to The Telegraph newspaper.
The police had published recordings of the target practice on their Facebook page last Saturday. It showed participants at the event firing at life-size images of a black man with a gun in his hand and a hat to the head. The pictures have since been removed.
“I am personally ashamed of this, and as soon as it was brought to my attention last night, I and other city officials began addressing the situation,” McDougal told the paper. “This incident does not reflect the values of this community.”
Incident in Georgia not the first of its kind
The civil rights organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) called the target “extremely offensive” and called for a meeting with city officials to discuss the incident. “This type of target has already been used by other police departments in the United States and has been deemed racist and unacceptable,” the NAACP said. This conditions people to think “that race or that person was my target.”
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The broadcaster NBC News also reports that police departments have previously come under criticism for using black motifs as targets. For example, a Michigan police agency conducted an investigation last year following photos of such a target practice appeared.
Villa Rica Police Chief Michael Mansour admitted a mistake but said the footage was taken out of context: “We had other photos showing us using other targets, but this one photo and video was released , and we screwed up,” he was quoted as saying by the news portal “Atlanta News First”. The black male targets are used for training across the state, but white and Asian targets have also been shot during the course.
“It’s just an innocent mistake, but it was a mistake,” Mansour admitted to NBC News. “And I will say quite frankly that we screwed it up. But I will never accept being told that I am a racist or that our department is racist because we made a mistake.”
The police chief assured the Fox 5 broadcaster that his district would only use silhouettes instead of photos in the courses for citizens in the future.
Sources: “The Telegraph”, Atlanta News First, NBC News, Fox 5
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