(TargetLiberty.org) – The police Department in Villa Rica, Georgia is under investigation after they used the image of a Black man during a firearms safety class for civilians. Photos from the class were posted on social media.
During the event which took place on Saturday, attendees had to aim their guns at a target that had the image of a Black man. The life-sized Black man in the target was pointing a gun and wore a beanie. The photo from the training class was originally posted on Facebook, but it was quickly deleted after the police department received a lot of backlash for this choice. Screenshots of the original post had been taken.
The Villa Rica Police Department issued a statement in response to the criticism they received claiming that they never meant to be “insensitive, inflammatory or offensive to anyone” and that they apologize to anyone who was offended. They added that they respected the opinions of their fellow citizens.
Michael Mansour, the chief of police in Villa Rica stated that targets featuring Black men were commonly used across the State in training classes. He also pointed out that White and Asian individuals are also frequently the images of these targets. According to Mansour, it had been a mistake of a police officer to only post photos that featured the Black individual when there were other targets that had also been used.
Mansour added that he acknowledges that they made a mistake, but that at the same time, he would not accept claims that he or his department are racist over that mistake.
LOOK:
The Villa Rica Police Chief apologizes after the department posted images to Facebook from a recent training seminar showing a black man used as a target. He says they use a variety of images but knows this wasn’t a good choice to use. The NAACP want answers @FOX5Atlanta pic.twitter.com/S737jf2TY4
— Eric Perry (@Ericperrytv) June 22, 2023
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