April 7, 2015
Current Events
Chief Greg Suhr has asked a police oversight committee to approve his recommendation that all 7 officers be fired. According to Suhr, the text messages “are of such despicable thinking that those responsible clearly fall below the minimum standards required to be a police officer.”
Authorities say the texts were aimed at African-Americans, Mexicans, Filipinos and gay men and were sent between 2011 and 2012. They were discovered by federal authorities investigating a former police sergeant on corruption charges and have once again put a spotlight on the nation’s police.
City leaders are concerned that any prejudice by the officers could have led to unfair treatment of citizens, particularly black defendants. District Attorney George Gascon has vowed to review all cases linked to the officers from the past 10 years to assure there were no improprieties.
Meanwhile, officials in Ferguson, Missouri have released racist emails it uncovered between former Court Clerk Mary Ann Twitty and former police officer Capt. Rick Henke and Sgt. William Mudd..
Current Events
During an investigation into the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, the Justice Department found the emails amid widespread racial bias in Ferguson’s police practices. The municipal court system was also profiting from fines it fabricated to syphon money from black and low-income residents.
One of the emails showed Ronald Reagan (during his days as an actor and prior to becoming president) feeding a chimp in the 1951 comedy “Bedtime for Bonzo.” Underneath was the caption: “Rare photo of Ronald Reagan babysitting Barack Obama in 1962.”
Another showed a photo of bare-chested women dancing in Africa, with the caption: “Michelle Obama’s High School Reunion!”
A June 2011 email described a man trying to put his dogs on welfare because the canines were “mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can’t speak English and have no … clue who their Daddies are.”
Twitty was fired over the emails and the 2 police officers have resigned.
