Holly MatkinSilver Spring, MD – The Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD) has released bodycam and cell phone footage that captured the moment one of its officers used a racial slur while speaking with a group of black men.
The incident occurred at approximately 10:36 a.m. on Thursday, outside a McDonald’s restaurant on New Hampshire Avenue, WTTG reported.
The group of four men said they were waiting outside the restaurant to be picked up for work by a coworker, when a McDonald’s employee called police to report that they were loitering on business property.
Montgomery County police responded to the scene, told the men that they would be cited for trespassing, and began patting them down, WRC reported.
Two citations for marijuana possession were also issued at the scene.
Bodycam footage and a cell phone video recorded by one of the suspects showed the men complaining about being stopped by the officers.
“The f–k y’all n—–s do this every day with me!” one of the me railed as a female officer began searching a backpack at the scene. “If I was doin’ some s–t, I woulda ran from y’all n—–s.”
The officer noted that the man seemed to be angry, and said perhaps he won’t be as angry in the future when he grows up.
“Y’all are d–k-eaters, that’s what you all is,” he retorted.
“It’s good to be something!” the officer quipped. “Doing better than you, it looks like. I’ll get paid eating d–ks.”
At one point during the encounter, she asked another suspect at the scene why he had straps in his backpack.
“I think she likes straps,” one of the suspects said.
“Yeah, I’m big into straps,” she confirmed. “Strap on, strap off…that’s why I’m very well-versed in what straps do.”
“You n—–s came to write a whole bunch of paperwork,” the suspect recording the scene said a moment later.
“Hey, you wanna get out of here fast, right? the officer responded. “So, if we have more people…y’all n—–s been tryin’ to somethin.”
One of the suspects immediately called the officer a “racist -ss b—h.”
“Nope, that’s a quote,” she replied cheerily. “Those were your words.”
The suspect then noted that the officer probably wouldn’t have called them “n—–s” if she “didn’t have that badge on,” at which point she began laughing.
“I would still say it because what I’m doing is repeating your words,” she responded.
The suspect who recorded the video later identified himself as Barry Tucker, WRC reported.
“I couldn’t believe it. I could not believe it and I couldn’t believe her face that she made,” he said of the racial slur the officer used. “She thought it was actually a cool thing to say and it’s not. She even said it was appropriate.”
The MCPD released a statement along with the videos on Thursday night, but did not address the officer’s status with the agency.
The department noted that it “takes all allegations of racial discrimination seriously,” and that they expect officers to serve “all members of the community in a fair, impartial, and non-discriminatory manner.”
“All allegations of misconduct surrounding inappropriate actions or language by our employees are investigated by our Internal Affairs Division, at times in concert with other governmental agencies within Montgomery County,” the MCPD confirmed.
The agency called the officer’s behavior “disturbing,” and said it was “contrary to our department’s values.”
“We sincerely regret the disturbing nature of this video,” the MCPD’s statement read. “We understand the pain such language causes the entire community.”
“Our commitment to having open and honest communication with the community and providing transparent police service persists,” the agency explained. “As part of our commitment to accountability and transparency, we are releasing both the social media video and the body worn camera footage of the involved officer for all to view.”
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich denounced the officer’s behavior, and declared that there “are no circumstances that justify” what she said, WTTG reported.
“The officer’s comments recorded on the video violate the standards which we expect our officers to uphold,” Elrich railed. “Every time something like this happens it hurts the reputation of all officers, and it works against efforts to build trust in the community.”
Montgomery County Council President Nancy Navarro said that the racist language heard on the video is disturbing and “not representative of the high expectations” the county has for its police force.
“It is my expectation that the individuals involved will be held accountable for these offensive actions,” Navarro added. “We are and will continue to be an inclusive County and it is imperative that we continue our work to engage in education and outreach to sensitize our residents on the harmful effects of racism on the residents of our communities.”
You can watch bodycam and cell phone footage of the incident in the videos below: