LA deputy says he used personal body camera to film driver’s racist rant

“You’ll never be white. You’re a murderer,” says the irate woman at a traffic stop

By Suzie Ziegler

LOS ANGELES COUNTY, Calif. — Video of a woman making racist comments at the deputy who pulled her over went viral Monday. The deputy says the incident was captured not by a department issued body camera, but by his own personal device.

According to ABC 7, the LA County Sheriff’s Department is still in the process of rolling out bodycams to all deputies. The unidentified deputy told FOX 11 that his substation doesn’t have official body cameras yet, so he has been using his own.

Newsweek reports that the deputy bought the personal camera to “protect himself from false allegations."

The deputy, who identifies as Latino, remained calm throughout the interaction as the driver repeatedly called him a “murderer” and “Mexican racist.”

Sheriff Alex Villanueva praised the deputy’s response.

“This deputy exemplifies the core values of our Department, his demeanor during this traffic stop is just an example of professionalism and patience our deputies have,” Villanueva wrote on Twitter.

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NEW: "You're always gonna be a Mexican, you'll never be white, you know that?"
A Latino LASD deputy sent me his bodycam video of a woman claiming to be a teacher launching into a racist tirade against him when he pulled her over in San Dimas. She repeatedly calls him a murderer. pic.twitter.com/Cc8jSVenCQ
— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 3, 2021