3 NC police officers fired after ‘hate-filled speech’ caught on patrol car video

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Three North Carolina police officers were fired after being caught on a police vehicle camera making racist comments about local citizens, fellow officers and the department’s newly appointed chief, officials said.

The former members of the Wilmington Police Department -- Michael Kevin Piner, Jesse E. Moore II and James B. Gilmore -- were identified Wednesday at a news conference, the Star-News of Wilmington reported. Moore and Gilmore have worked fin the department since 1997, while Piner was hired in 1998, the newspaper reported.

Police Chief Donny Williams was officially promoted to the department’s top position Tuesday, WECT reported. Williams said the investigation uncovered “extensive violations of the department’s manual of rules and policies which include the standard of conduct, criticism, and use of inappropriate language.”

“Today is a challenging day for me because as your police chief, one of my first major tasks is to announce the termination of three veteran police officers,” Williams said during the news conference.

According to the internal investigation incident report, the video of officers’ comments was found June 4 during a monthly inspection of Piner’s vehicle, the Star-News reported. The discovery was classified in the system as an “accidental activation,” according to the newspaper.

Some of the officers’ comments during the two-hour video were graphic and racially insensitive, WECT reported.

Piner can be heard talking to Gilmore, and at the 46-minute, 12-second mark, began chatting about the Black Lives Matter protests occurring nationwide, the Star-News reported.

Gilmore also talked about a social media video, criticizing it because it depicted white people “worshiping Blacks,” the newspaper reported.

Piner also mentions fellow Officer Michael Scott, whom he refers to as “bad news.”

“Let’s see how his boys take care of him when (expletive) gets rough, see if they don’t put a bullet in his head,” according to the report.

Later in the video, Piner receives a phone call from Moore, who was off duty, the Star-News reported. According to the report, the officers used the N-word, and Moore notes that one woman “needed a bullet in her head right then and move on.”

“Let’s move the body out of the way and keep going,” Moore allegedly said.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you,” Piner answered, according to the report.

In another conversation listed in the report, Piner allegedly told Moore he was going to buy an assault rifle in a few weeks, believing martial law was imminent, WECT reported.

“We are just gonna go out and start slaughtering them (expletives). I can’t wait. God, I can’t wait,” Piner stated, according to the documents. Moore answered he would not do that, but Piner said “I’m ready.”

According to the report, Piner told Moore he believed society “needed (a) civil war to ‘wipe ‘em off the (expletive) map. That’ll put ‘em back about four or five generations.’”

An attorney representing one of the fired officers attempted to block the release of the report with a restraining order, which was denied by a judge, the Port City Daily of Wilmington reported.

Williams said he was “shocked, saddened and disgusted” by the report.

“There are certain behaviors that one must have to be a police officer and these three individuals have demonstrated they do not possess it,” Williams said during the news conference. “Please, please don’t judge our officers on the conduct of a few.”

Cox Media Group