Some members of a community in Georgia expressed outrage this week after a police station posted photos of a civilian handgun class in which participants fired at targets with a photo of a black man.
The Villa Rica Police Department posted on Facebook that it held a small arms training course last Saturday.
“We wanted to share a few photos with everyone,” the post read. “Even though the weather was warm, everyone seemed to be having a good time. Check out our Facebook page for more photos.”
In a photo that was posted, an instructor stands next to one of the participants as he points a gun at the target.
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The Villa Rica, Georgia, police department posted photos of a civilian handgun class on Facebook, and all the images showed a photo of a black man on the targets. (Police of Villa Rica)
The target was an image of a black man holding a gun.
The footage resulted in hundreds of comments from community members, many of whom were outraged, suggesting the department was racist.
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The Villa Rica, Georgia Police Department used targets that showed a black man during the civilian handguns course on June 17. (Police of Villa Rica)
All photos of the class posted by the department have since been removed from the Facebook page.
The department has since apologized on Facebook for its decision to post the images.
“The Villa Rica Police Department strives to be aware of how our relationship with our community members directly impacts our effectiveness within the community we serve,” the post reads. “This encompasses our stance on fairness to all people, regardless of their human diversity factors. The targets used in our recent firearms class depict realistic human images and were part of a package of target images of people from different ethnicities.
“It was never our intention to be callous, inflammatory or abusive to anyone,” the post continued. “However, we respect the honest opinion of our fellow citizens and apologize for any offense we may have caused.”
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Following the department’s apology, the Carroll County NAACP sent a letter about the “controversial target.”
The NAACP expressed concern about the post because every target used was a photo of a black man.
“This ‘target’ is extremely offensive to many residents of Villa Rica and Carroll County,” the letter said. “These types of targets have been used by other law enforcement agencies in the US and are considered racially inappropriate and unacceptable.”
Global Courant
The NAACP also said the apology posted on Facebook by police showed “a lack of sincerity, sensitivity to minority residents.”
County NAACP leaders requested a meeting with city officials on the matter.
Greg Wehner is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital.
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