EXCLUSIVE: Pete Buttigieg’s Police Officers Caught on Tape Quoting KKK Scene from “Django Unchained” While Arresting Black Man

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While the South Bend Police Department arrested a black resident on Wednesday, officers gleefully quoted a scene from Quentin Tarantino’s “Django Unchained” in which hooded KKK members bicker amongst themselves while riding to kill Jamie Fox’s character, Django.

The individual being arrested, 21-year-old African American Marko Mosgrove, broadcasted his arrest to Facebook. Multiple officers with guns and shields over their faces rammed into the man’s home before they discovered his phone was livestreaming.

“Hey, that phone is recording,” an officer says, six minutes and 17 seconds into the livestream. The officers then turn the phone around, resulting in the screen going black.

But the audio continued broadcasting throughout the arrest as officers reenacted the film’s scene.

18 minutes and 23 seconds into the livestream, an unknown officer giggles while asking: “You know what’s a good idea for your kid? Is a skull mask in case you have to shoot a guy.”

“Dude, this is how you rob banks, alright?” another officer responds. A few seconds later, an unknown officer imitates a KKK member from the film struggling to see through his Klan hood.

“I can’t see fu**king sh*t out of this thing!,” the officer says while laughing, mimicking the scene from Tarantino’s Western bloodbath where KKK members argue with one another over their Klan hoods not fitting their faces.

An officer responds by asking if the quote was from the film “The Boondock Saints.”

“No, Django Unchained,” the other officer responds. An officer then continues to quote from the KKK scene, mimicking a Klan member who defended his wife who worked for hours making the hoods for the KKK members.

“My wife was up all…” the officer says before audio temporarily cuts out. Another officer responds by continuing the reenactment, quoting theKKK member from the scene who tried to diffuse the situation.

“I think we all agree that these were a nice idea,” the officer imitates.

Status Coup cannot identify the officers who were involved with the arrest or reenactment of the KKK scene from the film.

The campaign for presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg, who is still the Mayor of South Bend until January 2020, has not responded to Status Coup’s request for comment as of the time of publishing. A spokesperson for the South Bend Police Department has also not responded to multiple requests for comment.

Dialeshanailon Nailon, the mother of the arrested young black male, told Status Coup the racism she saw on her son’s livestream wasn’t a surprise.

“They definitely have a history of it,” she said about the South Bend Police Department.

The comments weren’t “fair or funny,” she continued. “We’re supposed to be able to trust them and they’re here to serve and protect and that’s not what’s going on.”

On whether South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg will take action, Nailon sounded bewildered: “I’m just going to be hopeful on his behalf on that for sure because it’s a lot of…I don’t know, I don’t know”

On the day of her son’s arrest, changes to the South Bend Police Department’s officer body camera policy were approved. But in response to a reporter’s question on what those changes were, a spokesperson for Mayor Buttigieg instructed the reporter to file a public records request for a copy of the new policy.

The lack of transparency from Buttigieg on the changes to the body camera policy comes on the heels of Politico reporting that Buttigieg’s presidential campaign omitted major wealthy bundlers raising money for the campaign from the list it released to the media.

Officers’ body cameras have been a hotbed issue in South Bend after the fatal police shooting of 54-year-old African American Eric Logan. During the incident, South Bend police sergeant Ryan O’Neill had his body camera turned off.

You can watch the full livestream of Tuesday’s arrest here. The “Django Unchained” reenactment begins 18 minutes and 23 seconds into the livestream.

Want more investigative reporting like this? JOIN Status Coup as a monthly member for as low as $5–10 to support our journalism and in-the-field reporting.

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