Antioch Police Officers Exposed in Racist Text Scandal Threatening Black Mayor

Dozens of police officers in Antioch, San Francisco Bay Area, are under investigation after racist and homophobic text messages were made public. The messages were discovered during an FBI investigation into Bay Area police departments that began in 2019. The investigation identified 17 officers as participants in the chat, making up approximately a quarter of the Antioch Police Department, but 44 Antioch officers have gotten at least one message included in the investigation of the group. The messages 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.