The Baltimore police sergeant who was captured on video intentionally coughing near residents in southeast Baltimore in an online video posted last week has been reassigned, the department said Tuesday.
Baltimore police spokeswoman detective Chakia Fennoy wrote in an email that the unnamed sergeant seen coughing at a woman as he passes her outside the Perkins Homes housing complex has been reassigned.
Fennoy did not answer questions about the officer’s identity, how long he’s been with the department or what his new role is, saying she had no further information.
The Instagram video posted last week shows a woman call out to the uniformed officer, who then coughs in her direction as he passes her on the sidewalk.
It drew outrage considering the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, which has infected thousands of Marylanders, hundreds fatally. More than 300 Baltimore police officers have quarantined since the beginning of the pandemic and 12 have tested positive for the disease.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison called the video “not only disturbing, but incomprehensible, especially considering the high-level of strong and clear guidance that we have provided from the beginning, regarding COVID-19” in a statement last week.
(Warning: Below video contains explicit language)