N.C. Police Officers Fired After Racist Video Found

“I can’t wait. God, I can’t wait,” he said.

Corporal Moore responded that he would not do that. Officer Piner is quoted as saying that society needed a civil war to “wipe ’em off” the map, to which Corporal Moore responded, “You’re crazy.”

When supervisors confronted the officers with the recordings, each denied being racist and described the pressure that the police were experiencing because of the protests, according to the internal report.

Officer Gilmore told the department that he was unnerved by the video he referred to in conversation because the Bible says not to “bow to any idol,” and that he treats everyone fairly.

Officer Piner said he was under great stress from concern for his and his family’s safety, the report said. He told supervisors that the comments were “uncharacteristic of him, and he was out of control,” according to the report.

Corporal Moore told supervisors that he was off duty, at his home and using his personal phone in the conversation, and that he was extremely stressed and “feeding off of Officer Piner and just venting,” the report said.

The three men could not be reached by telephone on Thursday.

According to their termination letters, the three men were fired for standard of conduct violations, while Officer Piner and Corporal Moore also broke the department’s policy on criticism and inappropriate jokes and slurs with “hate-filled speech.” The department said the three had been police officers since the late 1990s.

Chief Williams said that normally, only a small amount of information is made public, according to personnel laws. “However, in exceptional cases, when it is essential to maintain public confidence in the administration of the city and the Police Department, more information may be released,” he said.