A Washington DC police officer made threatening remarks at a Pakistan-born driver during a traffic stop in the American capital on Friday, The Washington Post reported on Saturday.
David Gregory, a prominent journalist and political commentator on CNN, told authorities that he heard the officer tell his driver, “I will take everything away from you.” The veteran reporter said his driver told him later that the officer also said, “I will take your head off.”
Gregory published the comments on his Twitter and said he later received calls from the mayor’s office and a top police official. “They were very concerned and wanted to express their regrets to the driver,” the Post quoted Gregory as saying.
I witnessed something disturbing this am: a DC police officer pulled over the Pakistani-American driver taking me back from CNN /1
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) November 11, 2016
Driver broke traffic laws, but he didn’t give a ticket. Yelled at him, saying “I will take everything away from you” if he did it again /2
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) November 11, 2016
Adding, “I will take your head off.” @MayorBowser
— David Gregory (@davidgregory) November 11, 2016
The office of Mayor Muriel E Bowser responded in a statement saying, “The incident described on social media does not illustrate who we are as a city or how we carry ourselves when serving residents and members of the public.” The police and Bowser’s aides “have already made contact to understand what transpired and will review the matter,” the statement added. Police said they have spoken to the driver.
The incident occurred about 8am after Gregory had finished CNN’s morning show ‘New Day’ and was returning home.
He said he was in the back of a sedan when his driver passed a line of buses. Gregory said the driver thought the buses were parked, but they were waiting for a light. He said the DC officer pulled over his driver for crossing the double-yellow line but did not issue a citation.
Gregory said he didn’t know whether the alleged comments were directed at his driver’s ethnicity or were made out of anger for the traffic violation.