West Midlands police caught on video telling black man 'you'd be the first person I'd shoot'
Footage posted to social media shows same officer asking 'You're going to go Black Lives Matter on us, are you?'
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Your support makes all the difference.Footage has emerged of a West Midlands Police officer telling a black man: "You would be the first person I would shoot if I had a gun."
The video posted to Facebook also shows the same officer asking the man, Jack Chambers, "You're going to go Black Lives Matter on us, are you?"
The man can be heard replying, "Yeah", as the surrounding officers laugh.
The officer is then heard saying: "You would be the first one I’d shoot if I had a gun, definitely," to which the man replies: "Oh f***ing hell."
It was unclear why police visited the man's house. A spokesperson for the force said the "racial comments" were made during a search of a premises in Coventry on 24 August.
Hudgell Solicitors, representing Mr Chambers, said he was considering pursuing legal action against the officer, saying "he was made to feel intimidated by comments made to him with regards to race, and use of firearms."
Officers from West Midlands Police’s Professional Standards Department are now investigating the incident.
The force received an official complaint and has now referred the matter to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
Assistant Chief Constable Alex Murray said: "What was said was not right and the officer has been removed from front line duties pending further assessment.
"The officer has already expressed remorse and is very apologetic over his comments.
"We expect the highest standards of behaviour from all our officers and staff, and we will always take complaints from members of the public seriously."
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