In a federal lawsuit eerily similar to one filed 20 years ago in Oakland, famed civil rights attorney John Burris and his team say the police department in Antioch – 35 miles away – is rife with bigotry, racism, lies and unconstitutional force.
eerily similar to one filed 20 years ago in Oakland, famed civil rights attorney John Burris and his team say the police department in Antioch – 35 miles away – is rife with bigotry, racism, lies and unconstitutional force.
"You have to rid the rottenest out," Burris said Thursday at a news conference. "This department is so fundamentally corrupted. We're looking at some type of oversight or monitor. Something needs to change. This suit is filed to move the agenda forward." The suit comes on the heels of the release by the Contra Costa County District and the FBI of semi-redacted racist and homophobic texts by Antioch police officers revealed through a wider investigation into their actions of "moral turpitude." The text messages released shows that officers called community members and those they arrested the N-word, gorillas, monkeys, fat bitch and other misogynistic words.
For example, the texts show that one of the officers – Ramirez -- threatened Mayor Lamar Thorpe, who is Black, expressing his desire to launch a less-than lethal missile at the mayor during a George Floyd protest. Khan, a police reform activist, was arrested in January 2021 for burning a "Blue Lives Matter" flag after Antioch police officers called it arson.
"I was born and raised in the city of Antioch and I have a passion for it," Khan told KTVU. "I'm not here targeting or hating on the police. I don't hate all police officers. I'm here just wanting accountability. I'm here just wanting justice for families."
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