An Alabama police officer was caught on tape making threats to kill a black man and then cover up the death as self-defense, The Guardian reports.
Troy Middlebrooks of Alexander City, refers to Vincent Bias as “that n–ger” who “needs a goddamn bullet.” In 2013, Middlebrooks, now 33, was reportedly “disciplined” for his comments, but remains on the force and still patrols the community. According to the report, Bias was paid $35,000 by authorities to avoid a public lawsuit.
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Middlebrooks, a veteran of the U.S. Marines, reportedly made the threats to Bias’ white brother-in-law during a stop at the home because of an unleashed dog. It’s reported Middlebrooks arrested Bias in the past on drug charges, but Bias was later released on bail.
Bias began carrying a voice recorder to gather evidence of police harassment and Bias’ brother-in-law began to record the conversation once Middlebrooks made threats to Bias’ life.
“The police were going to pull [Bias] aside on a routine traffic stop and [Bias] would get killed.”
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During the recording, Middlebrooks also accused Bias of being a threat to his own relatives as well.
“[I’d] f–king kill that motherf–ker with whatever I had in the f–king house,” Middlebrooks said. “And before the police got here, I’d f–king put marks all over my s–t and make it look like he was trying to f–king kill me. I goddamn guarantee you,” he said. “What would it look like? Self-f–king defense. F–k that piece of s–t. I’m a lot different from a lot of these other folks. I’ll f–king tell you what’s on my f–king mind.”
Alexander City Police Chief Willie Robinson comes to Middlebrooks’ defense and says that the officer was “just talking” and wasn’t really going to go through with the alleged killing. He then points the finger to Bias’ brother-in-law.
“He wasn’t saying that he was going to do that,” the police chief said. “He was talking about the man doing it himself.”
Robinson maintains Middlebrooks was disciplined but did not explain how.
Listen to the recording below. Warning: Graphic content.