Riot in the US state of Georgia: the police used the photo of a black man as a target during shooting exercises for civilians last weekend. Something that might have stayed under the radar were it not for the police posting photos of the so-called ‘safety class’ on social media.
The target practice took place last Saturday in Villa Rica, not far from Atlanta, the capital of Georgia. Photos shared on the local police’s Facebook page show participants pointing their guns at the photo of a black man in a beanie, also pointing his gun at the ready.
There was a wave of criticism of the Facebook post, the original version of which has since been removed. Villa Rica police say it was never intended to be “unfeeling, inflammatory or abusive” and have apologized.
Police chief Michael Mansour points out that photos of white and Asian people are also used as targets in the ‘safety class’, but that only photos of the black man ended up on Facebook.
“It’s just an innocent mistake, but it’s a mistake,” Mansour told NBC News. The police chief firmly rejects accusations of racism.
