A Texas state trooper is going viral for an encounter with Black players at a college football game. Now the incident, which was televised, has prompted lots of people to speak out online and provoked some to call for him to lose his job.
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The encounter happened during a Nov. 15 game between Texas A&M and South Carolina. As South Carolina player Nyck Harbor walked through a stadium tunnel to the field after scoring a touchdown, the trooper can be seen walking between Harbor and his teammate, Oscar Adaway III, bumping into Harbor as he passed them. The trooper then points at Harbor and appears to reprimand him. Adaway encourages Harbor to get back to the game, ushering him back to the field without engaging the officer.
Check out the incident for yourself here:
The Texas Department of Public Safety confirmed that the officer was sent home from the game as they investigate the circumstances around the shove, writing on X:
“The DPS Trooper involved was sent home from the game. Our Office of Inspector General (OIG) is also aware of the incident and will be further looking into the matter. No additional information will be released at this time.”
But many are saying the early dismissal doesn’t go far enough. As you can imagine, the reactions to the video poured in online from thousands of outraged viewers, including NBA star LeBron James, who called for the officer’s suspension.
“That A&M cop needs to suspended! That was premeditated and corny AF!! He went out his way to start some shit. Do better man,” he wrote in a November 15 post on X.
One commenter suggested that the officer was dealing with some teenage trauma and took it out on the South Carolina players.
“He was cut from the football team at some point in his life,” wrote someone on TikTok.
Others pointed out that if an officer has no problem shoving a Black man on television, we should be concerned about what they might do when no one’s watching.
“The trooper’s conduct was clearly unacceptable. If an officer is willing to behave like that on live television, with thousands watching, it raises serious concerns about how they act during traffic stops and other encounters with no cameras present. Accountability shouldn’t depend on whether the public is watching,” wrote someone on X.
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