ANTIOCH, Calif. — For years, Antioch Police Department officers routinely used private text messaging groups to flout their racist views, using slurs in front of superiors without fear of reprisal.
The horrific language was also common at work, the texts show, even in front of internal affairs investigators. Officers joked about harming Black residents — one offered to buy a “steak dinner” for anyone who shot Mayor Lamar Thorpe with a projectile used on protesters. Others joked about committing civil rights violations and eliciting false confessions.
The comments were met with laughter, indifference or praise, according to a 21-page report obtained by the Mercury News that details dozens of racist texts shared between nearly two dozen officers over two years.
