Dozens of police officers in the San Francisco Bay Area city of Antioch are under fire after excerpts from their personal group chat filled with racist and homophobic text messages have been made public. Citizens and the city’s mayor are outraged and question if the bigoted sentiments in the exchanges color how officers police the community.
The texts came to light on April 11 after The Bay Area News Group obtained a copy of an investigative report written by Contra Costa District Attorney Senior Inspector Larry Wallace about the group’s messages to each other.
The texting scandal is at the center of an FBI investigation and Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office investigation into Bay Area police departments that dates back to 2019, according to ABC 7 News.
The investigations identified 17 officers as participants in the chat, making up approximately a quarter of the Antioch Police Department, but the East Bay Times reports that 44 Antioch officers have gotten as least one message included in the investigation of the group.
By Wednesday, April 12, 17 of those officers had been placed on leave. Some have resigned, and others are working on the force but not in roles that are public-facing.
The texts excerpted in the reports from a second, 14-page report emerged Friday, April 14, reveal a pattern of officers using racial epithets to refer to African-Americans and expressing both a desire to use violence against them and satisfaction at doing so.
“I’ll bury that n—-r in my fields,” Antioch Sgt. Joshua Evans texted Officer Morteza Amiri in December 2020.
In February 2020 Amiri texted Officer Eric Rombough, “No they didn’t push it that far. Bunch of gorillas surrounding us and taunting a fight since we were hooking [epithet].”
The messges, which weren’t always limited to Antioch officers, sometimes show officers openly admitting to violating citizens’ constitutional rights.
“Since we don’t have video I sometimes just say people gave me a full confession when they didn’t. Gets filed easier,” Amiri texted an officer in Brentwood, another Contra Costa County city, in April 2020. The Antioch City Council voted the following year to equip its officers with body cameras.
Other messages showed officers carrying out their expressed wishes for violence.
In March 2021 Antioch officers were planning a raid to arrest 22-year-old Terryonn Pugh and Trent Allen. One report document shows Officer Rombough texting Detective Robert Gerber, “Bro I can’t wait to forty all of them,” referring to using the nonlethal sponge rounds officers use during a raid.
Days later, after the raid, Rombough messaged another officer, “Bro, my foot hurts.” Asked if he’d kicked one of the men, Rombough replied, “Yup, like a f—— field goal,” before adding, “Gotta stop kicking n—–s in their head.”
Pugh’s lawyer Carmela Caramagno told ABC7, “It is clear that the Antioch Police Department has treated that community like a war zone, and the community members as if they were hostiles.” Antioch’s population is around 24% Black, according to 2020 census data.
Mayor Lamar Thorpe called for a special meeting to discuss the text messages, a town hall discussion that ended with heated emotions and many up in arms.
The mayor, an African-American man, said he was “disgusted” by what he learned about the text messages. The report showed that during a chat about a Black Lives Matter demonstration in June 2020 Officer John Ramirez sent a text saying he’d buy a prime rib dinner at a steakhouse to officer who used .40mm sponge bullets against Thorpe.
“I’m blown away that there were threats to my personal life in those text messages,” Thorpe said this week about the threat, CBS News reported.
The mayor is calling for all of the officers featured in the investigation to be fired.
During the meeting, Thorpe snapped at one of his constituents. The person asked for the mayor also to be investigated.
“I am sick and tired of being attacked by these people in this community apologizing for the racism going on in this community,” Thorpe said, adding, “You’re the problem! You’re the problem!”
At one point, the mayor seemed to invite the man outside to a fistfight, saying, “You want to go outside? Let’s go!”
“It’s not just the police department who provides cover for people like this who are on these text messages,” Thorpe later told local station KTVU. “There are residents in this community who will put up a fight to protect the culture that exists in that department.”
The FBI began looking into the APD and the Pittsburg Police Department after reports suggested officers were engaged in illegal activity. The officers were not only accused of violating citizens’ civil rights but also alleged to be dealing cocaine and steroids, intentionally using excessive force, and accepting bribes.
This behavior is not new in the police departments around this racist country…most departments treat people of color like this all the time…from lying on innocent people…to beating innocent people to straight up MMMURDER…we see it all the time…PERIOD
How did things go so bad in America? I cry for us.May God help us .As a nation,we are a disgrace if this is how we see the people living & breathing on the same sphere.I g n o r a n c e Hate ..it’s not gonna win.
To serve and protect has a new meaning today!
It amazing how God will reveal the enemy’s! Cause the enemy reveal itself!
Think about it, when Trumpf was in Office he gave all of th racist the the “Thumbs Up” to be their authentic racist selves. The Klan discarded their Hoods and Robes and they have come out. Racism has always been evident low key, but now it’s channeling a Race War. Thanks to you know who!!!
My people have been brain wash ,to believe that Jesus Christ is going to stop ✋️ this. Don’t they SEE .,it is a war among the people of color
I just say this your all gonna reap what you soe,for treating people of color so bad he watching the things that,these officer’s are doing to people of color it’s not gonna end well for Caucasian people keep being evil it’ll come back to get you I promise it will.
This is ordinary, commonplace acting among many if not all of the local, county, and state police departments in this nation. The actions of the APD are without doubt horrendous and disgusting. Any person of good conscience should be appalled at the actions of the officers of the APD. They will tarnish the reputation of any good officers, if there are any left.
It is problematic that this is happening to a community that is of mixed racial makeup. The fact that it came to light after such a long time, doesn’t bode well for the officers involved in the coverup of this heinous and misguided chat blog. I can only imagine that these officers are the worst of the worst. And can not control their hatred and bigotry of the ‘other.’ Why these men and women chose to act in such a heinous and smarmy way is beyond me. While they may think of themselves as protectors of right and the law, by transgressing in such a manner they have forsaken the very law they swore to uphold.
In this day and age, it is becoming more evident that police officers before and at random times during their job not only be made to take polygraphs, but also made to undergo a very extensive psychiatric evaluation. This will restore the people’s faith in the Police force and restore the force to it’s protect and serve mode. The really sad part is that most of these people on these forces call themselves God fearing.
Somebody said it best, the KKK has turned in their hoods for police uniforms.
I agree with the statement of the kkk has turned in their hoods and sheets for police uniforms and legal guns.
😂😂 this is not new to whites. Those who identify as white behave in this manner because of privilege, entitlement, and the foundation of Amerikkka. Citizens believe you can bypass racism by ignoring it. No, you have to address it similarly to the Holocaust. The reason for mentioning the Holocaust in this toilet of a nation is to celebrate whites as heroes are normalized, but when whites are villains, i.e., slavery, lynching, and violence, whites will lie. So attacking CRT and AFS is easy because whites do not do well with the truth.
The police and communities are the main arteries of racism,They are licensed to kill people of color whenever and however they want and they will always and be justified,THEN THEY ALL LAUGH!Like it’s target practice,This world is definitely not perfect,But really tho,They get caught,They know they’ll get away with it,So what,I got fired from here,They either move on elsewhere as cop,Or they’re hunting people of color in group drive bys making like people of color are doing it to each other,Come on now really,People of color committing the perfect murder,Yea Right,No one is safe,Thanks to the an that they’ll put back into office with everything evil on his back in court,But people of color are dumb,Wooow!
The cops in this country commet more crimes than the criminals
I think that most of the crime is committed by people of color as that is what most of the inner city is composed of. These officers have determined that all people of color are criminals. However, most of the inner city folks are law abiding. All cops are not racist! Some are, most are not. It is not a “white thing.” Rather, it is an ignorance, poor training and leadership failure thing. We all need to love and care for others as Christ exhorted us to do. Much good would result.
Well people who is going to police the police and the politicians and the judges so many of them are crooked as Snake’s. It does no good to leave a fox guarding the hen house.!!!
THIS COUNTRY HAS IT’S OWN HISTORY OF COMMITTING IT’S HOLOCAUST ON MY RACE. US INDIGENOUS TRIBLE NATIVE NATIVES. MILLIONS AND MILLIONS OF THE NUMBER OF INDIGENOUS TRIBES. SO IS THIS ( LEVEL OF HATE AND KILLING HERE ) ANYONE BELIEVES IS NEW,OR 🤔 STOPABLE. ONE THIRD OF THIS COUNTRY WANT TO DO DO THE SAME TO EVERY RACE THAT IS NOT EUROPEAN. YOUR’LL ARE NOT WHITE, OR BETTER THAN ANYONE.
These officers are clearly wrong and should be dealt with accordingly. But Lemar Thorpe is a joke of a mayor! DUI’s, underaged girls among many other illegal charges on his record! A lousy mayor!! for the City of Antioch and its only gotten worse since his position’s been held!
The cop Amiri…. Interesting. I’m sure his buddies have some colorful words to describe him , when he’s not around. Idiotg