Detroit Police Officer Gary Allen Steele demoted after posting racist video of black woman, Ariel Moore after pulling her over and seizing her vehicle.
A Detroit police officer has been demoted after posting a video on Snapchat deriding a black woman he pulled over for a traffic stop, Tuesday night.
The incident led to Officer Gary Allen Steele being reassigned while the Detroit Police Department investigated the video.
The incident began after he pulled over 23-year-old woman, Ariel Moore for having an expired registration and seized the vehicle.
Steele then told her to exit the vehicle so the vehicle could be towed. She declined a ride home from the officers and had to walk a block home in below-freezing weather, WXYZ reported.
Ariel Moore mother: ‘They’re demeaning my child for no reason.’
In the video, Moore is shown walking away, with one of the officers saying she is doing the ‘walk of shame,’ with stickers added to the video reading, ‘What black girl magic looks like’ and ‘celebrating Black History Month.’
The video ends with an officer saying, ‘Bye, Felicia,’ according to the Detroit Metro Times.
Moore and her mother, Monique Mobley, said they were shocked when WXYZ showed them Steele’s video.
‘I’ve never had this happen to me in my life. I’m kind of shocked — I don’t really know how to feel right now. I’m still trying to take it in,’ Moore said.
‘What they put on there, that’s racist. They’re demeaning my child for no reason,’ Mobley said.
Offered Detroit Police Chief James Craig: ‘I am angry. I’m angry because this was a racially insensitive post’.
Although he noted that body-camera footage showed that Steele and his partner, who is also under investigation, offered Moore a ride home on Tuesday night, Craig said Steele’s Snapchat post was a very ‘bad decision.’
‘On top of that, she’s walking on a very cold night. It’s dark, and, in my view, she’s in harm’s way,’ he said, according to the Daily Beast. ‘It could’ve been my daughter, my sister. It doesn’t matter, it could have been anyone.’
Craig said that Steele’s use of ‘Bye, Felicia’ was derogatory and that the reference to Black History Month is even more ‘problematic.’
Steele has been placed on restricted duty, pending an internal investigation, according to ClickOnDetroit.
Officer Gary Steele prior troubling history:
This isn’t the first time Steele has been in trouble. In 2008 he was charged with physically attacking his ex-girlfriend and firing a gun next to her head, according to WXYZ.
He took a misdemeanor plea deal for probation and stayed on the force.
Craig admitted Steele has a ‘troubling’ history, which Craig said ‘predates my appointment,’ according to The Daily Beast.
Craig added, ‘It would have been a different outcome if I had been chief.’
And then there were these reactions on social media that piqued this author’s curiosity- see what you think?
Officer Gary Steele and his partner need to be fired for the racial remarks, just as Sean Bostwick was fired in September for his racial remarks toward black residents. Your job is to protect and serve. Not antagonize and oppress blacks in the city you serve. https://t.co/v3rXoo3BTQ
— Branden Hunter (@JustCallmeBHunt) January 31, 2019
What’s even crazier with Gary Steele is that in 2008, he was charged with physically attacking his ex-girlfriend and firing a gun next to her head in Canton. He took a misdemeanor plea deal, served probation and was still able to serve on DPD. Shouldn’t have been on the streets.
— Branden Hunter (@JustCallmeBHunt) January 31, 2019
