ATLANTA — The Georgia and Carroll County chapters of the NAACP led a protest Thursday afternoon against the Villa Rica Police Department over images showing a picture of a Black man being used as a shooting target during a safety class earlier this month.
The department posted the photos and a video on social media nearly two weeks ago, showing civilians firing at the poster of the Black gunman. That immediately sparked pushback on social media and from some in the community.
The post was removed, and police expressed regret over the incident.
“What we saw was not OK,” NAACP member Kerry-Ann Astree said in front of dozens of people during the protest Thursday afternoon at the Villa Rica Amphitheatre. “Will it happen again if nothing is done? Yes. We are going to speak up, we are going to stand up, and we are going to show up.”
Astree is the widow of Sgt. Jean-Harold Astree, a Fairburn police officer who was killed in a crash in 2022. She said he used to work for the Villa Rica department under current police Chief Michael Mansour.
“This chief is not about us or anyone else and it’s time that someone spoke this to his face and he gets to understand,” said Astree, who runs a nonprofit that helps support wives of law enforcement members. “His apologies will never be authentic. Just like we saw on Facebook.”
On June 20, Villa Rica police apologized to the community over the post, writing on social media that it was never their intention to be insensitive or offend anyone. They said the targets used in the firearms class depicted “realistic human images” and were part of a package that included people from various ethnic groups.
But that statement wasn’t enough for the Carroll NAACP branch, which deemed the post to be racially insensitive.
“Accountability matters. An apology is unacceptable,” branch President Dominique Conteh said 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.”
Others offended at the picture included local resident Emmanuel Mincey, who said he went to the police department and quickly filed a complaint, according to Channel 2 Action News.
“You put this image up and we’re being shot at,” Mincey said.
Mansour said his department didn’t mean for it to be viewed that way. He told Channel 2 that the class started by using a picture of a white gunman, then ran out of those posters.
“The perception of it looks like we have people just shooting at Black guys, and that’s not at all what it was,” Mansour said.
Still, city officials are trying to make sure something like this never happens again. Villa Rica Mayor Gil McDougal said an outside organization will be tasked with reviewing “how this entire incident came about, not just the post itself.”
Police added that they are inviting the public to attend the next citizens firearms class in hopes of providing a more positive experience. Meanwhile, those at the protest Thursday said they will continue to speak out.
“We aren’t here just because we want to be here. We are here because we get the opportunity to speak for those who can’t speak for themselves,” Astree said. “And we are not going away until all is done.”
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