A lot of people are angry at police this month. But not many of them choose to express that anger by calling Black police officers the N-Word—and claiming victimhood because protests over the George Floyd killing disrupted their business.
Unsurprisingly, a video of a DC real-estate agent named Gary Wicks doing just that made the rounds online this week. In the video, Wicks, who is white, blames the unidentified police officers, who appear to be Black, for the hit his business took during the days of protests over police brutality.
In the outrageous—and frankly bonkers—video, Wicks claims his anger stems from the police killing of George Floyd. But Wicks’s rant quickly takes an unusual turn: He says he’s a victim. The protests over the killing, he says, have disrupted his business. “You fucking n*****s killed a guy. I had a practice that I built up for 20 years. Because of you cops, you killed a guy,” Wicks yells.
“Who?” asks one of the unidentified officers, who appears to be Black.
“George Floyd,” responds Wicks, who then continues to antagonize the officers. “The whole city shut down because of you people. Follow me all you want. You’ve got the guns. You can shoot me. … Fucking n****r cops. …You ruined my life.”
Video Shows Man Hurling Racial Slurs at African-American Officers in DC.https://t.co/XJn1u1l2Kc pic.twitter.com/MyGdlPAwmd
— Shomari Stone (@shomaristone) June 10, 2020
Reached by phone Friday morning, Wicks said he did not want to comment. Washingtonian informed him he would be named in this story, and asked if he wanted us to include an apology. “I think I’ll pass,” he said, after a pause.
It appears Wicks will have some extra free time to think about his feelings: The Washington Fine Properties agency immediately severed ties with Wicks upon learning of the video on June 9.
“We were appalled to learn that an agent associated with WFP used racist and hurtful language during an altercation and we immediately severed all ties with this individual,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Washington Fine Properties is anti-racist. Discrimination in any form is totally unacceptable. We are strongly committed to providing an inclusive environment for our clients, agents, and employees.”
She added: “Like everyone throughout the country, WFP is reflecting on ways to support and further expand our diversity and promote a culture of inclusiveness in our firm and our industry.”
A police spokeswoman confirmed that the officers in the video are with DC’s Metropolitan Police Department. “Our members remained composed and responded professionally in what could only be described as hateful speech,” she wrote by email.
According to public records, Wicks’s real-estate licenses are still active in DC, Maryland, and Virginia.
Marisa M. Kashino joined Washingtonian in 2009 and was a senior editor until 2022.
