A police officer in Vandergrift, Pennsylvania is under investigation following a video filmed at a restaurant, which went viral on Twitter. The video shows Officer William Moore confronting a man after receiving a report about a Black male smoking marijuana.
Moore, 53, was removed from the schedule pending an investigation into the incident, Mayor Barb Turiak told TribLive. He is being paid while on leave, the newspaper reported. The incident occurred at G&G Restaurant in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania at about 8 a.m. Saturday, April 17, 2021. He was on leave by the following Monday, the newspaper reported. You can watch the video of the incident here or later in this post.
Moore faced charges in 2017 for allegedly assaulting a teenage boy, court documents indicate. The most serious charges were dismissed, and he paid a fine for a summary count of harassment.
Video Claims to Show Racial Profiling After Police Were Called for a Report of a Black Male Smoking Marijuana
Cop in Pennsylvania who sounds drunk racially profiles an innocent Black man pic.twitter.com/AUlFbRHciD
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) April 25, 2021
Vandergrift police Chief Joe Caporali told TribLive Moore responded to the restaurant for a report of a Black male smoking marijuana outside the restaurant. Caporali did not tell the newspaper who called 911. Moore told another officer on the video, “I already know who called.”
After the call, Moore approached Marcus Townsend, 20, of Vandergrift, and Townsend began filming.
“You came straight to the Black dude sitting at the table,” Townsend said on one clip.
“Because I got called for you,” Moore responded.
“For me?” Townsend asks.
“Yeah, because you were the one smoking weed,” Moore replied.
Townsend denied smoking marijuana outside the restaurant.
The two minute, twenty second video shows Officer William Moore confronting a male. The video was shared on Twitter Saturday, April 25, and had more than 600,000 views that evening. On the video, Moore tells the man he was there because he was called there for him, and asks if he has any identification.
“No, I don’t have to give you ID,” the man replies.
“You do have to,” Moore responds.
When the man refuses to give him identification, Moore calls for backup. The man asks Moore to call his superior officer, to which Moore responds that he is a superior officer.
“My badge number is 4. Do you understand that?” Moore says.
This is part 2 of drunk Officer William Moore with the Vandergrift Police in PA racially profiling an innocent Black man pic.twitter.com/wzNQONPNGp
— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) April 25, 2021
Moore asks the man for identification several more times before telling him to get up and go outside. Moore also says several times he was called for the man.
“That’s not right, sir, and it’s all being recorded,” the man says.
The man gives him identification, and the man says he is being racially profiled.
“Oh yeah, racial profiling,” Moore responds sarcastically.
Moore says on the radio that the man is claiming he is being racially profiled.
“Everybody that knows me knows that I don’t care whether you’re white, brown or tan,” he says.
Officials Released Little Information on the Investigation or the Incident
Vandergrift suspends longtime police officer William Moore https://t.co/LkrB4SE85W
— Donald Verger Fine Note Cards & Postcards (@Donaldverger) April 26, 2021
Officials released limited information on the investigation into Moore or on the incident which spurred the investigation. They cited an ongoing investigation in response to questions seeking details.
“It’s an ongoing investigation, and I can’t comment further,” Turiak told TribLive.
Vandergrift Borough Council will decide whether Moore is permitted to return to work following an internal investigation into the incident, the newspaper reported.
“These allegations are being taken seriously by borough officials,” Caporali told the newspaper.
He did not give a timeframe for when the investigation would be completed.
Moore Was Accused of Assaulting & Threatening a 14-Year-Old Boy in 2017
@PennsylvaniaGov
Officer William Moore, another cop with history of violence at
Vandergrift PD, in PA #PoliceReformNow https://t.co/26zB0k9K7R— Vet4Biden (@RivExplorer66) April 25, 2021
This is not the first time Moore has been placed on paid leave. In 2017, he was accused of assaulting and threatening a 14-year-old boy. His online court records show he pleaded guilty to a summary count of harassment and paid a fine in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania.
His docket sheet shows Moore was initially charged in that case with endangering the welfare of children, three counts of simple assault and three counts of harassment. The simple assault counts were misdemeanors, along with two of the counts of harassment. All of the misdemeanors were dropped at his preliminary hearing, and his summary count of harassment was held for court.
Moore was charged by the Gilpin Township Police Department, and the case was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office. Moore hired a private attorney to defend him.
TribLive reported the charges stemmed from a report from the Armstrong County Children and Youth Services office, which said the boy was seen at school with a scratch on his arm and. When asked by school employees how he got the injury, he said it was from an altercation with Moore. The report was transferred to the Gilpin police department, which filed the charges.
The incident was caught on video, TribLive reported at the time the charges were filed. The video showed Moore grabbing the boy by his arm and placing his hand over the boy’s mouth, according to court documents summarized by the newspaper. A bystander pulled Moore’s hand from the boy’s face, court documents said.
Moore was also accused of assaulting the boy a second time in the same case. Court documents alleged he placed his forearm against the boy’s throat and covered the boy’s mouth with his hand. He reportedly appeared intoxicated and threatened to have the boy committed to a mental institution, court documents said.
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