https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=xMlbkmdGaC8
A Shreveport police officer is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation after disturbing footage of him berating a young Black man in an expletive-laden rant surfaced on social media last week.
Shreveport Police Chief Alan Crump launched an internal affairs investigation into Officer Gary Thomas on Sunday, May 6, after the officer was seen “engaging a man in a manner not in line with departmental practices,” local station KTBS 3 reported. Thomas and another officer were responding to a neighbor’s complaint of loud music at the time.
The minute-long clip shows Thomas, an eight-year veteran of the force, scream and curse at the young man who calmly explains that he’s done nothing wrong. He asks the officer not to put his hands on him, to which Thomas responds, ” … I’ll put my hands on you any f—–g time I want to!”
“Swing on me motherf—-r,” Thomas continues when the young man tries to slap his hand away. “I’ll whoop your f—–g ass! Record me whooping his ass!”
A woman who appears to be the young man’s grandmother is heard saying none of this would’ve happened if he had just turned his music down like she asked. The video ends with Thomas and another officer forcibly yanking the man out of his seat and off the front porch.
This isn’t the first time Thomas’ short fuse has landed him in hot water. Last May, he was arrested on domestic abuse charges after battering his wife and refusing to let her leave their home, according to 70.1 KEEL. Thomas was fired as a result of the charges but won reinstatement, thanks to the city’s Municipal Fire and Police Civil Service Board.
