(VILLA RICA, Ga.) — Images of a police training class was posted to social media by the Villa Rica Police Department last week, with white folks using posters of a Black man as target practice. Protestors say that the police department’s apology is not enough.
Villa Rica PD Chief Michael Mansour said there was no sinister intent behind posting the images. Villa Rica Mayor Gil McDougal asked for an investigation into the matter.
Mansour admitted to posting the images on social media. “The perception of it looks like we have people just shooting at black guys and that’s not at all what it was,” he told WSB-TV’s Tom Jones. The images in question have since been removed.
A protest was held on Thursday, asking for commitments from the police department on how to resolve the situation and prevent further mistakes. “We’re not just here, just to talk about it. We’re here to come up with an action plan. What’s going to be next?” one protestor told WSB’s Jonathan O’Brien.
“Accountability matters. An apology is unacceptable,” Carroll County NAACP branch President Dominique Conteh wrote in a news release. “This is more than an apology because what happens is that this is a catalyst. It’s an underlying issue. It’s the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
WSB anchor/reporter Jonathan O’Brien contributed to reporting for this story.