#South Carolina cop suspended for using racial slur outside bar

A white South Carolina police officer said the N-word at least twice during a confrontation outside a bar, video shows.

Footage posted to Twitter of the incident late Saturday in the Five Points section of Columbia shows Columbia Police Sgt. Chad Walker using the racial slur at least two times, claiming it was previously directed at him.

A video starts with a man outside Bar None — where Walker spotted several people violating Gov. Henry McMaster’s executive order to stop the service and consumption of alcohol after 11 p.m. — accusing the officer of “talking to these people of color as if they’re less than human.”

“The people of color?” Walker replies. “The gentleman right there that called me a n—-r? That guy, that just called me a n—-r?”

“Are you serious?” another man is overheard saying.

The black man Walker had accused then claims he did not use the slur, while the sergeant insists he did, saying it was caught on his police body-cam. Several others, including other officers, watch the exchange, video shows.

“Yes sir, you did,” Walker tells the man. “You got mad because I told you you couldn’t drink your drink, so you called me that word.”

A woman then nudges the man away from Walker — a 14-year department vet — after he asked the sergeant to repeat the slur again, video shows.

“Why?” the officer continues. “All you’re doing is calling me ignorant. That’s what that word means. If you’d like to call yourself ignorant, keep saying it.”

In another clip, Walker can be heard yelling that the man called him the N-word.

“Who cares what color I am?!” Walker said, the clip shows. “He called me that word, nobody was called that.”

Columbia police said in a tweet early Sunday that Walker’s behavior was “inexcusable and completely inconsistent” with its values while promising an investigation.

“We are better than his actions,” department officials said.

Columbia Police Chief W. H. “Skip” Holbrook announced later Sunday that Walker had been suspended without pay for his actions during the heated exchange. Holbrook also apologized for the sergeant’s “inappropriate [and] disrespectful” actions.

“After reviewing the video from last night in Five Points, it is evident the actions of Sgt. Walker were a clear failure to fulfill the expectations and standards of our department,” Holbrook said in a statement. “The repetition of the racial slur and failure to deescalate the situation were inexcusable.”

While embarrassed by Walker’s actions, Holbrook said he was pleased that another officer intervened and removed him from the scene.

“The Columbia Police Department will continue to work to earn the trust of the community that it serves,” police said in a statement. “The actions exhibited [Saturday] are not a true representation of the courageous CPD men and women who proudly wear the police uniform. We will be accountable to the public we serve.”