US officer threatens Pakistani driver at traffic signal, says report

WASHINGTON: A police driver in DC made condescending comments to a Pakistani-born driver at a traffic stop in Washington, said CNN journalist David Gregory who reported the incident to authorities.

The renowned journalist and political commentator said that he heard the officer say “I will take everything from you,” to his driver of Pakistani origin, stated an international media report.

The driver also informed Gregory that the officer threatened to ‘take his head off’.

The incident was narrated by Gregory on his Twitter, following which he got calls from the city mayor’s office and senior police official who wanted to look into the matter and were ‘very concerned’.

The mayor Muriel E. Bowser’s office also came with a statement saying the incident ‘does not reflect who we are as a city or how we carry ourselves when serving residents and members of the public.’

The incident occurred when Gregory was at the back of his car and returning home from work in the morning. His driver mistakenly thought the signal was open as buses parked nearby obscured his vision. It was then he was chased by a traffic policeman in an SUV and instead of being issued a citation the driver was yelled at, according to Gregory.

The political atmosphere in the United States is tense following the victory of Donald Trump in the recent presidential elections. Trump had called for "a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States"