Ga. police ripped for using photo of black man in target practice

A Georgia police department has come under fire for using a photo of a black man for target practice in a civilian firearms class — which the agency’s top cop claimed was an “innocent mistake.”

The Villa Rica Police Department, which held a handgun safety class on Saturday, posted images on Facebook of a life-sized photo of a black man wearing a beanie and pointing a handgun, NBC News reported.

The agency also shared video of white citizens shooting at the image of the black man, according to WSB-TV.

The images and footage, which have since been deleted, sparked outrage in the community about 33 miles west of Atlanta. Some took screenshots of the incendiary posts and voiced their anger online.

“While I feel gun safely classes are a good thing, especially with how easy it is for anyone to purchase a gun in the south, there is a huge issue here. If you don’t see anything wrong, please delete me immediately,” resident Jackie Boyd wrote on Facebook.

“My initial reaction was complete fury and anger that this is happening, in 2023, within the small town we CHOSE to move into and raise our biracial family in,” she wrote. “The diversity in this small town is beautiful and part of why we enjoy it. This post makes me feel 100% less safe in the city of Villa Rica.”

Noting that she was already fearful for her Black husband, family and friends, Boyd said she was sickened to her stomach about the “ignorance on display from our local police department.”

Another resident, Emmanuel Mincey, was so enraged, he filed a complaint with the embattled police agency and said the images seen online “send the wrong message” to the city’s Black residents, WSB-TV reported.

“’Hey, guys. We shoot at you for target practice,’” he told the news outlet.

Another resident wrote: “If you cringe, even a little, at the thought of shooting at a target of a dog or a child and find absolutely nothing wrong with shooting at an image of a Black man, it’s an indication of how little respect and regard you have for our life.”

Many questioned why there were no images of white people used as targets.

Police Chief Michael Mansour insisted that photos of white people also were used during the training, according to WSB-TV.

“That day, they started with that target,” Mansour told the outlet while pointing at an image of a white man. “They ran out of those targets at the range and they put these targets up,” he continued, as he pointed to the large photo of the Black man.

The top cop told NBC News that it was “just an innocent mistake,” adding that he’s “very transparent in saying that we messed up. But at no time will I accept people telling me I’m a racist, or our department is a racist because we made a mistake.”

The news outlet said it has reviewed photos of targets with images of white people that the chief said were used during the session.

Mayor Gil McDougal told the Macon Telegraph that he was “personally embarrassed” by the incident, “and as soon as it was brought to my attention last night I and other city staff began to address this situation.”

He said he has ordered an investigation into the incident.

“This incident does not reflect the values of this community,” Hizzoner said.

“Seems like you could see right from the moment you put these pictures up that there was going to be a question,” McDougal told WSB-TV.

Meanwhile, the local NAACP chapter issued an open letter to the police department, calling the target “extremely offensive,” and requested a meeting with city leaders to discuss the matter.

“These types of targets have been used by other police departments within the U.S. and have been deemed racially inappropriate and unacceptable,” NAACP Carroll County leader Dominique Conteh wrote, NBC News reported.

Mansour said he plans to meet with Conteh and McDougal to address the incident.

The police department has apologized and said there was no ill intent.

“The Villa Rica Police Department strives to be conscious of how our relationship with our community members has a direct impact on our effectiveness within the community we serve,” the agency said in a statement posted on Facebook.

“This includes our stance on being equitable to all people regardless of their human diversity factors. The targets utilized in our recent firearms class depict realistic human images and were part of a package which included target images of people from various ethnic groups,” it said.

“It was never our intention to be insensitive, inflammatory, or offensive to anyone. However, we respect the honest opinions of our fellow citizens and apologize for any offense we may have caused. We invite everyone to attend one of our next citizen firearms classes and share in a positive experience alongside us,” the department added.

But Boyd scoffed at the apology.

“After taking a moment to calm down, I returned to their Facebook page and saw their ‘apology.’ After reading it, my anger has returned stronger than it was to begin with.,” she wrote.

“The VRPD stated that the targets came from a ‘package which included target images of people from various ethnic groups.’ If you look at the images and video they have posted, they used ONE target image multiple times. If the package included several different targets, who took the time to intentionally pull out all the images of the Black man to use?” Boyd wrote.