UNITED STATES NEWS

California city audits police who sent racist, abusive texts

Apr 19, 2023, 3:23 PM

ANTIOCH, Calif. (AP) — A San Francisco Bay Area city council voted Tuesday to audit its troubled police department, the latest development in a year-long federal investigation of the Antioch Police Department that blew up this month with the disclosure of racist and hostile text messages sent by officers.

Angry residents crowded City Hall as the Antioch City Council unanimously approved audits of the department’s internal affairs unit, its hiring and promotional practices and of department culture. Officials have named 17 officers who sent text messages, including the president of the Antioch police union, although Contra Costa County’s public defender said that nearly half of the 100-officer department was included in the text chains.

Defense attorney Ellen McDonnell has asked District Attorney Diana Becton to dismiss all cases involving the public defender’s office and Antioch police. Becton said she is reviewing cases for potential dismissal or resentencing. It’s unclear how many cases are at stake.

“The public simply cannot have trust or confidence in any criminal prosecution involving the Antioch Police Department,” McDonnell said in an email Wednesday. “No one should be charged with a crime based on the report of a police department so thoroughly riddled with corruption.”

The incendiary text messages, which were heavily redacted, contain derogatory, racist, homophobic and sexually explicit language. Officers brag about making up evidence and beating up suspects. They refer to women as water buffalo, share photos of gorillas, freely use racial slurs and make light of the police killing of George Floyd in 2020.

In September 2020, two officers agreed by text to write a large number of traffic citations by targeting a specific group in a specific area. A male officer referred to Black people by a racist slur and said authorities should make them “eat s—.” A female officer responded, “Yes that will be easy. And it will be a good time lol start off quick with the numbers.”

The city of 115,000 residents about 45 miles (72 kilometers) east of San Francisco was once predominantly white but has diversified in the last 30 years, Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe said in an interview Wednesday.

Thorpe is among three Black, progressive members of the five-person council who have said they are committed to holding police accountable and protecting tenants’ rights. In 2021, the city issued an apology for its treatment of early Chinese immigrants.

“What you’re seeing is a maturation process, it’s like watching a teenage kid develop pimples,” he said. “The institutions have taken a long time to catch up with where the voters and public have been.”

The text messages came out as part of an investigation launched in March 2022 by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office into a broad range of offenses, including what prosecutors called crimes of “moral turpitude,” by officers with the Antioch and nearby Pittsburg police departments.

The district attorney’s office released two batches of text messages to reporters after a judge on April 7 ordered the messages shared with defense attorneys in a pending felony case involving some of the officers. The reports did not identify the races of the officers who sent the text messages, and none have yet been charged with a crime.

The messages disclosed to date were sent largely in 2020 and 2021. Sgt. Rick Hoffman, president of the Antioch Police Officers Association, is named as sending communications. The association did not respond to requests for comment.

In April 2020, one Antioch officer texted an officer at another police department: “Since we don’t have video I sometimes just say people gave me a full confession when they didn’t, get filed easier.”

In June 2020, one officer offered a steak dinner to anyone who could “40” Thorpe at a protest, referring to a “.40mm less lethal launcher,” a senior inspector for the district attorney’s office explained in a report. Such a device could shoot rubber bullets or bean bag rounds.

Antioch Police Chief Steve Ford issued a statement last week condemning the “the racially abhorrent content and incomprehensible behavior being attributed to members of the Antioch Police Department in media reports.”

His department also established an email address and phone line where community members could give feedback. Ford did not respond to emailed requests to speak with The Associated Press.

Police officers have been busted before for sending bigoted messages to each other. In 2015, then-San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr moved to fire or discipline 14 officers involved in trading racist text messages.

Authorities have given no timeline for when their joint investigation might finish.

United States News

Associated Press

Consumer product agency issues warning on small magnetic balls linked to deaths

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is warning about the danger of high-powered, pea-sized magnets found in toys, announcing one company’s recall of a set containing them and saying it was aware of seven deaths linked to their ingestion. The federal agency estimated that ingestion of the magnets led to 2,400 hospital emergency room visits […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

Dozens of animals taken from Virginia roadside zoo as part of investigation

NATURAL BRIDGE, Va. (AP) — Over 100 animals –- both living and dead -– have been taken from a roadside zoo in western Virginia, according to court documents, as part of what state authorities are calling a criminal investigation. One search warrant executed Wednesday at the Natural Bridge Zoo in Rockbridge County shows that 89 […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Some Seattle cancer center patients are receiving threatening emails after last month’s data breach

SEATTLE (AP) — Some patients of a Seattle-based cancer center received threatening emails following a data breach last month. Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center officials said a Nov. 19 hack hit a portion of the health care system’s clinical network, possibly leaking patient data. This week, some former and current patients received threatening emails claiming names, […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

South Carolina jury convicts inmate in first trial involving deadly prison riots

BISHOPVILLE, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina jurors have found an inmate guilty of charges connected to the death of a fellow inmate during the deadliest U.S. prison riot of the past quarter-century. The Lee County jury deliberated less than an hour on Friday before finding Michael Juan “Flame” Smith guilty of assault and battery by […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Police fatally shoot man who officers say charged them with knives in West Texas

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — Officers investigating a domestic disturbance fatally shot a man who they said ran at them with knives in West Texas, police said Saturday. Manuel Guillen, 34, died at a hospital following the shooting in Lubbock Friday night, police spokesperson Amber Edwards said. Edwards said the officers were responding to a report […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Minnesota grocery store clerk dies after customer impales him with a golf club, police say

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A Minneapolis store clerk died after a customer beat him and impaled him with a golf club, police said. The 66-year-old clerk was attacked Friday at the Oak Grove Grocery, a small neighborhood store in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis. A 44-year-old suspect is jailed on suspicion of murder. Police responded […]

5 hours ago

Sponsored Articles

...

Dierdre Woodruff

Interest rates may have peaked. Should you buy a CD, high-yield savings account, or a fixed annuity?

Interest rates are the highest they’ve been in decades, and it looks like the Fed has paused hikes. This may be the best time to lock in rates for long-term, low-risk financial products like fixed annuities.

Follow @KTAR923...

West Hunsaker at Morris Hall supports Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona

KTAR's Community Spotlight this month focuses on Morris Hall and its commitment to supporting the Make-A-Wish Foundation in Arizona.

...

Desert Institute for Spine Care

Desert Institute for Spine Care (DISC) wants to help Valley residents address back, neck issues through awake spine surgery

As the weather begins to change, those with back issues can no longer rely on the dry heat to aid their backs. That's where DISC comes in.

California city audits police who sent racist, abusive texts