A Mississippi police chief has been fired from the force after being shot with racial and homophobic slurs and describing how many people he had killed.
Sam Dobbins was the police chief in Lexington, Mississippi, who the Board of Aldermen voted to remove him on Wednesday after the record surfaced, catching Dobbins saying, “I shot that bastard 19 times.”
Dobbins was taped speaking to Robert Lee Hooker, a former Lexington police officer who left the force last week after complaining about a toxic work environment.
Hooker, who is black, is heard discussing hurtful comments Dobbins made in front of Hooker, although Dobbins appears to show no remorse.
Sam Dobbins has been fired as police chief of Lexington, Mississippi, after a former police officer caught him spouting racial and homophobic slurs
Robert Lee Hooker returned to the Lexington Police Department to hold accountable after experiencing a toxic work environment there. He took on Police Chief Dobbins, who boasted about killing people and saying racial slurs, which eventually led to him being fired
“Well, if you’re looking for an apology after I gave you an apology then, you’re barking up the wrong tree,” Dobbins said in a recording made available to the Mississippi Center for Investigative Reporting.
“If a few words bother you, this might not be the place for you,” he continued. “I didn’t mean anything personal by saying what I said.”
Dobbins says in the recording that he made the comment to silence Hooker by saying, “I’m just trying to get you to shut up.”
Hooker goes on to explain why he was hurt by the comment, which eventually elicits an apology from Dobbins, but not before trying to get Hooker to apologize as well.
‘Are you sorry? You let me down yesterday,” Dobbins asked Hooker, and Hooker replied that he left because he was upset.
Hooker left the force just days after originally joining due to the comments made, but rejoined the force to hold accountability.
Dobbins claimed he’s the only person protecting Hooker “on the street,” saying, “There’s going to be a man to fight for you. I will be that. Don’t break that.
He then admits he killed 13 people while working as a police officer, claiming that each killing was “justified” and that he “went hard.”
Dobbins then goes on to boast about his alleged accomplishments as an officer, saying he “saved 67 kids at a school” from a black man.
“I shot that bastard 119 times,” he said. “The vehicle was shot at 319 times, but I hit it 119 times.”
When approached by MCIR about the recording, Dobbins said he was unaware.
In his casual mention of people he’d killed, Dobbins said it was “something we don’t talk about, period”. He also denied using the insults, saying he doesn’t speak like that.
Mississippi law states that a conversation can be recorded without the consent of other participants.
While the induction eventually doomed Dobbins’ police career in the city, the vote to fire him passed by only one vote after two board members voted against the motion to fire.
The Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party said Wednesday that it has repeatedly urged elected officials to address “police misconduct and abuse of power.”
In the Facebook post, the party said it had “met in person with Mayor Robin McCrory on several occasions about the unlawful and unethical behavior and reached out to the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen at their regular meeting.”
“It is shameful and appalling that this situation has reached this moment due to the inaction of elected officials,” they continued.
Cardell Wright, the party’s president, held a news conference after the board vote and told the Daily Beast that Dobbins has had a “strained” relationship with the black community since taking office in 2021.
Although the city is small with about 2,000 residents, Wright said that 80% of the city’s residents are black.
He says Dobbins had a “problem” with the black community and they quickly began reporting harassment, abuse and mass arrests of activists.
Hooker said he decided to keep the record because he’s “just gotten to the point where you’re not making people right, you’re not making it right”.
“Let me unmask you for who you are, who you are,” he continued, according to WLBT.
Wright confirmed that Hooker is “relieved that he was able to do his part to serve the black community in Lexington.”