A Detroit police officer who forced a woman to walk home in the freezing cold has a history of violence against women. The cop, identified as Gary Steele, streamed Snapchat video of a Black woman walking home at night in near sub-zero temperatures after he pulled her car over for having an expired tag.
Steele and his partner made disparaging remarks about Ariel Moore as he recorded video of her walking alone in the snow late at night. The temperature that night in Detroit was a bone-chilling 2 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Priceless,” said Steele. “Walk of shame,” said his partner. Steele said, “In the cold. Bye, Felicia.”
Steele also added captions that mocked Moore on Snapchat: “What black girl magic looks like” and “celebrating Black History Month.”
The cops had Moore’s vehicle towed to the City’s impound lot.
Detective Police Chief James Craig told reporters during a press conference Thursday that there was an offer made by the cops to escort Moore home – but she refused.
“She gets to do that, but we get to make sure she gets safely home,” Craig said, according to the Chicago Tribune. “But then to put up this insensitive post, makes me angry.”
“I’m not troubled, not disappointed, I am angry,” Craig said. “To make the reference to Black History Month is even more problematic.”
Moore and her mom, Monique Mobley, spoke exclusively to WXYZ-TV. “What they put on there, that’s racist. They demeaned my child for no reason, Mobley said.
Moore told the news station she was shocked.
Steele, who was demoted from corporal to officer, has had trouble with the law in the past.
“His history is troubling,” Chief Craig told reporters. “There’s a pattern, and I’m concerned about that pattern.”
Steele plead guilty to domestic violence and discharging a weapon near his ex-girlfriend’s head in 2008. The 18-year police veteran agreed to a misdemeanor plea deal that allowed him to remain on the police force.
