Former police officer Sean McKown has pleaded guilty after being charged with fabricating a story about firing his gun during an altercation with a group of Black teens. The incident in question took place in June when he was at his upstate New York residence. McKown claimed that he fired his weapon towards a group of Black teens who had fired first. Further investigation found no evidence of an altercation, but rather McKown had returned from a night of drinking and fired his weapon.
After the state police began looking into the matter, McKown reportedly admitted that he fabricated the story. According to the Albany Times-Union, the 19-year veteran police officer admitted to firing his gun into a tree stump and then getting rid of it. Adding on, state troopers said that McKown's stories were "inconsistent" and they never believed him. The former police officer never came in contact with a group of Black youths and an altercation occurred.
McKown was able to retire from the Cohoes Police Department earlier this year. He is now facing four misdemeanor charges including firing a gun within 500 feet of a home and filing a false police report.
“I am encouraged by this, but it is only one brick in a much larger house that still needs to be built in this country, to treat Black Americans equally and to create a justice system that works for everyone,” Adirondack Diversity Initiative Director Nicole Hylton-Patterson said.
McKown is expected to appear in court in February 2021.
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