Cincinnati police officer caught on video calling Black woman the n-word
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On Wednesday, a Cincinnati, Ohio police officer was suspended after he was caught on body cam video calling a Black woman a “n*gger.”
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The woman officer Dennis Barnette arrested at a nightclub on Saturday and called the racial slur, happened to be the daughter of NAACP board member Yolanda Miller, Fox 19 reports.
Barnette allegedly slammed Miller’s daughter into his police car while making the arrest because the woman was reportedly engaged in a traffic dispute. The use of the racist word by Barnette was captured on his partner’s body camera.
“So the fact that he grabbed her and slammed her, I was really upset about that,” Miller told Fox 19. “How dare you use your badge and your position and the authority that you have to push on a defenseless woman?”
In an email obtained by the Cincinnati Enquirer, Police Chief Eliot Isaac wrote to City Manager Patrick Duhaney about Barnette’s use of the slur saying: “This type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated inside the department.”
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City leader Councilwoman Tamaya Dennard called the officer’s actions “reprehensible” and sounded off on Facebook.
“His actions are why, in spite of police reform efforts and progress, the Black community remains distrustful of law enforcement,” she wrote on Facebook.
As the investigation continues, authorities announced that Barnette will remain on desk duty.
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