A Plethora of Racist Emails
The Department of Justice’s report unveiled an incredible number of racist emails that were exchanged between Ferguson, Missouri, police officers and municipal court officials. The same group of people who were solely responsible for carrying out justice in the predominantly Black community were making racially charged jokes and exposing their racist beliefs to one another. One message from 2008 questioned how Barack Obama was elected president by asking, “What black man holds a steady job for four years.”
Clear Displays of Abuse of Power
As camera crews and citizen cellphone videos captured during the chaotic attacks on protesters in Ferguson, Ferguson officers had no problem abusing their power. The Department of Justice’s report confirmed this and gave several instances where police officers abuse their authority to unlawfully arrest and harass Black citizens. In one case, a man was questioned after sitting in his car after playing a game of basketball. The officer slapped the man with a string of bogus charges including a charge for making a false declaration after the man told the officer his name was Mike. The man’s name was Michael.
