A Georgia cop has been fired after he was caught on a viral TikTok video touching an unarmed black woman on her front porch, officials said Friday.
Michael Oxford, formerly of the Gwinnett County Police Department outside Atlanta, was first placed on probation after Tuesday’s incident and was discharged Friday after an internal probe, the police department said in a statement.
“The investigation into this case has shown that Officer Oxford violated our policies and did not meet our core values,” the department said.
“We strive to behave in a way that promotes mutual respect within the community and our peers.”
The incident unfolded Tuesday night when Oxford responded to a house in Loganville after receiving a report of a damaged car. The complainant told police that a group of people threw a bottle at their car, which left an unknown liquid on the car, AJC reported.
The incident was captured on the homeowner’s surveillance system and after police checked the video, they recognized Aytra Thomas, who was on a porch across the street.
As Oxford approached Thomas to speak to her, a group of women, including Thomas’ daughter Kyndesia Smith (22), began shouting at him, the outlet said, citing an internal police report.
Oxford said the shouting made it ‘difficult to talk to Aytra and carry out my investigation further’ and told Smith that she should pipe up or leave if she did not want to be thrown in jail on obstruction charges, the police report states, according to to AJC.
In a video of the incident, which garnered millions of views on TikTok, Smith can be heard saying “I’m not going anywhere” and “You are on my property. We did not call you.”
When Oxford tried to place Smith under arrest, she stood behind her mother, leading the former cop to start arresting her, the video shows.
When Smith refused Oxford’s orders to “hit the ground”, he picked them up, sent them in buses under the porch, sent video games.
Smith, who police say Oxford was driving when she was eventually placed under arrest, was charged with false obstruction and simple battery against a police officer and was released Wednesday after placing a tire.
Oxford has been working with the department since February 2019 and had no disciplinary history, according to records.
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