LUBBOCK, Texas — The Lubbock Police Department on Tuesday afternoon called a press conference to announce an officer was placed on administrative leave and was the subject of an internal investigation.
A post on Facebook authored by a man who purports to be a Lubbock Police Officer said:
“These protests start as peaceful and lawful. Then they get overrun by trash trying to start crap. Happened Sunday night here in Lubbock. The first 2 hours were just fine. Then the east side rabble showed up yelling ‘f):&:! The police’ and ran the good protestors [sic] out They started trying to illicit a response from us. This is what’s happening across the country. Those are the facts.”
“His actions, his words were disparaging,” said Chief Floyd Mitchell at the press conference. “They were rude, and they do not represent the majority of the men and women of this police department.”
“To refer to our people who live on the east side of Lubbock or anywhere in the City of Lubbock as trash or rabbles – to be disparaging in any way is not appropriate. It’s not how we treat people. It’s not how we train. And I want people to know I will not stand idly by and allow it to happen,” Mitchell said.
EverythingLubbock.com carried the press conference live. Use the video player below to watch a replay.
On Monday evening, Police Chief Floyd Mitchell spoke at length about the need for police to respect the rights of protesters and the need for police reform nationwide.
