Racist former police officer Tanner Holt has resigned after being knocked out by Jonathan Toney for spewing racial slurs at a wedding in Knoxville, Tenn.
Holt resigned on Sept. 29 after an investigation found that he violated the Knoxville Police Department’s Code of Conduct policy.
The incident happened on June 26 in a parking lot after the wedding held in downtown Knoxville. Both Holt and Toney were wedding guests. Witnesses said that a drunken Holt kept harassing Toney about race. He allegedly said he was unaware that Black people were allowed inside.
“I didn’t know they let Black people in the reception hall,” said Holt.
Toney repeatedly asked Holt to refrain from making such comments, but Holt ignored his warnings and claimed to be a part of the Black community.
Eventually, Toney grew tired of the racist rant and punched Holt in the face, knocking him out cold. He was taken to the University of Tennessee Medical Center as he was still unconscious when the police reached the scene. Toney told police that he “couldn’t take it anymore” when he punched Holt.
A spokesman from the Knoxville Police Department, Scott Erland, confirmed the Internal Affairs investigation.
“In the course of the preliminary investigation, responding officers were made aware of numerous possible violations of the KPD’s Code of Conduct policy, including allegations that Holt had made racially motivated statements that precipitated the assault,” he said. “Responding officers immediately reported those allegations to their immediate supervisors, and Chief Eve Thomas promptly requested that the Internal Affairs Unit investigate the incident.”
The Knoxville Police Department’s Internal Affairs division found that the Code of Conduct policy was violated due to Holt’s drunken behavior. The policy states that “immoral, indecent, lewd or disorderly manner” are violations. In other words, spewing racist vitriol would’ve been fine if Holt was sober.
Got it.
Police officers are expected to follow the policy even when they are off-duty.
Holt was allowed to return to patrol duty after being released from the hospital while the investigation was pending. However, after the investigation was completed, Holt resigned.
