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FBI investigates 17 Antioch officers for using highly offensive slurs for Black people in racist texts

The messages, which were sent in 2020 and 2021, revealed how officers allegedly using racial and homophobic slurs

WARNING: This article contains information that some people may find triggering or upsetting. Discretion is advised.

ANTIOCH, CALIFORNIA: A total of 17 police officers are under investigation by FBI in a probe about racist text messaging that rocked the city of Antioch. The messages, which were sent in 2020 and 2021, revealed officers allegedly using extremely offensive racial and homophobic slurs and alluding to Black people as "gorilla" and "monkey."

According to DailyMail, documents released by the Contra Costa County District Attorney on April 13 showed a long list of racist text messages sent by members of the Antioch Police Department including threats of violence against the city's mayor, Lamar Thorpe, who is Black. As per the outlet, Antioch has around 115,000 people. And according to 2020 Census data, around 24 percent of the city's population is Black.

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What do released documents state?

Senior Inspector Larry Wallace said, as per KRON4, "This report documents some of the derogatory, homophobic, and sexually explicit language and photographs shared by members of the Antioch Police Department that demonstrates their racial bias and animus towards African Americans and other people of color in the community." It also shows the number of times officers used the n-word and said phrases such as “#Donkey (n-word).” 

On April 24, 2020, Sergeant Josh Evans sent Officer Morteza Amiri a text that read, “I’ll bury that (n-word) in my fields,” and added, “And yes…. it was a hard R on purpose.” To which, Officer Amiri laughed and replied, “haha there’s no accidents with you on that.”

The document shows that the officers sent each other images of gorillas several times over text. On May 4, 2020, Officer Aaron Hughes sent a message writing, "Bro the circus is in town… but it seems they only brought monkeys." When George Floyd died on May 25, 2022, after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on him, Officer Amiri said they were being held "For the gorilla that died."

Referred to Black women as 'water buffalo'

In September 2020, Officer Andrea Rodriguez and Officer Calvin Prieto said they would hand out traffic citations. Prieto allegedly wrote, "Make these n***as eat s**t. Yes of course." Rodriguez replied, "Yes that will be easy. And it will be a good time lol start off quick with the numbers." On June 7, 2021, Officer Eric Rombough allegedly referred to black women as "water buffalo" and sent texts to officers saying "so we are harassing the gorillas," "we just ran down a monkey at sycamore," and "bottom line it doesn't matter some gorilla killed another gorilla."

Antioch Police Department's Chief Steve Ford's statement

The texts were discovered amid an ongoing investigation into the officers, who can be charged with assault under color of authority, fraud, and other charges. Antioch Police Department's Chief Steve Ford also released a statement regarding reports of inappropriate text messages. He said, “I condemn – in the strongest possible terms – the racially abhorrent content and incomprehensible behavior being attributed to members of the Antioch Police Department in media reports. I have taken immediate action to ensure a thorough investigation by an external independent entity is conducted and the community is not exposed to any individuals under question from this reporting. On behalf of our organization, I apologize to the Antioch Community for the hurt caused by this hateful speech. I promise to hold accountable the officers expressing racist or bigoted beliefs, biased insensitivity, and those boasting about harming members of the community. I would like to thank the Contra Costa District Attorney’s Office and Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work in helping us identify the sickening disease of racism and other incompatible behaviors within our ranks. We will continue to fully cooperate with their efforts while taking actionable steps to restore community trust in our organization.”

Following the release of the texts, netizens were quick to bash the officers. One wrote, “Having grown up adjacent to Antioch in the 70s, this would have been noooo surprise back then. But 2023, it's truly disgusting.” Another commented, “Secret is a stretch. The outrage is because it was so brazen and open. Not only did the leadership participation imply approval but the rank and file knew it did and said as much. ‘It's ok, we can be ourselves here’ is the whole vibe. Time to bring in the Feds.” One more said, “There can be no accountability by internal affairs when they are part of the racist texts. They all need to be fired. We need to be investing in our communities, not racists.”

Who are the 17 officers?

1) Sergeant Josh Evans

2) Sergeant Rick Hoffman (President of the Antioch Police Officers’ Association)

3) Officer Eric Rombough

4) Detective Robert Gerber

5) Officer Jonathan Adams

6) Officer Morteza Amiri

7) Officer Scott Duggar

8) Officer Aaron Hughes

9) Officer Tom Smith 

10) Officer Brock Marcotte 

11) Officer Timothy Manly Williams 

12) Officer Brayton Milner

13) Officer Calvin Prieto

14) Officer John Ramirez

15) Officer Andrea Rodriguez

16) Officer Kyle Smith

17) Officer Devon Wenger

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.