The day after Lubbock police marched with more than 400 people in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, an officer was placed on administrative leave for a racist social media post against residents of predominantly-black East Lubbock.
“We have had an incident that affects our police department and our public and really dulls the goodness that occurred last night in regards to our solidarity march,” said Lubbock Police Chief Floyd Mitchell.
Mitchell said if his department is going to talk the talk, like participating in Monday's march, they have to walk the walk.
The officer’s comment said a peaceful protest in Lubbock Sunday was overrun by “trash” when “east side rabble showed up" and ran the good protesters out. A screenshot of the comment was shared in the private Facebook group Lubbock Citizens Against Police Brutality. Members notified the police department.
“We immediately notified that officer’s chain of command and had him respond to police headquarters," Mitchell said. "I sat down with that officer face-to-face and that officer was placed on administrative leave. He is no longer patrolling the streets of Lubbock.”
An investigation into policy violation is underway. Mitchell called the comment disparaging, rude and not representative of the department.
“It’s not how we treat people, it’s not how we train, and I want everyone to understand that I will not idly stand by and allow that to happen," the police chief said.
AJ McCleod, a lifelong resident of East Lubbock and YWCA Community Youth Development Leadership Director, said his neighbors want police officers who treat them fairly.
“We’re individuals, we’re fathers, we’re mothers, we’re families that are surviving and going to work and productive citizens each and every day," McCleod said. "East Lubbock is a great neighborhood, a great community. I just don’t want that stigma to keep carrying over our heads. That we’re the bad guys, we’re the people who are going to get in trouble, we’re the people that should be in jail.”
McCleod welcomes people to come to his neighborhood and see for themselves what kind of community it is.
Mitchell invited black community leaders to attend a Tuesday news conference announcing the officer’s leave. He says he wanted to apologize in-person to them and the community for the hateful comment.
The night before, on Monday, the same group of men marched from the police department to Citizens Tower. The march was organized by the 100 Black Men of West Texas.
Here’s how Mitchell welcomed the crowd.
“A lot of you know that I get very emotional about law enforcement and policing, and how we treat our community," he said. "My youngest son, we’ve been talking over the last few days, and he said ‘Dad? Are you going to get up and say anything?’ I said ‘Yes son, I am.’ I think it’s important for everyone to understand that I’ve been a police officer for 30 years. I’ve been a black man for 52. What’s going on in the world right now is difficult for all of us to understand. We have to treat everyone as human beings first.”
The crowd, made up of folks from all walks of life, was asked to march in silence.
“When we get there, the only message that needs to be said is the name of those who have been victimized by those that have disgraced the uniform," said Pastor Bill Stubblefield. "So we’re going to read those names. That, in and of itself, is the only message that we want."
Stubblefield read 74 names of unarmed black people killed since 2012. It took him six minutes. Less time than a Minneapolis police officer had his knee on George Floyd’s neck, killing him. The death that sparked days of protests nationwide was ruled a homicide Monday.
Mitchell said he first saw the video of Floyd’s death on Wednesday of last week. It was hard for him to wrap his head around. He says that’s not what policing should look like.
“There are a number of incidents out there to where we have to look at our profession, we have to look at the way we train, we have to set expectations so that people understand that the power, or the authority that we have - it’s not really power, it’s authority that we have - is granted to us by our community," Mitchell said.
Improving accountability and building trust in marginalized communities are systemic changes Mitchell said he would like to see nationally.
