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Nine current and former Antioch and Pittsburg, California officers have been charged following a federal investigation into civil rights violations, fraud, excessive force, and other forms of corruption.
According to ABC7, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of California Ismail J. Ramsey filed four indictments detailing charges of wire fraud, deprivation of rights under color of law, conspiracy against rights, and conspiracy to distribute anabolic steroids.
The FBI and Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office initially launched an investigation into the Antioch and Pittsburg police departments last year.
As many as 45 Antioch officers were accused of using racial slurs and threatening Mayor Lamar Thorpe, who is Black, in a series of text messages. In the messages, officers also allegedly described Black people as "gorillas."
On Thursday (August 17), Thorpe confirmed that multiple officers were arrested by the FBI.
"Today is a dark day in our city's history, as people trusted to uphold the law, allegedly breached that trust and were arrested by the FBI," Thorpe said in a statement. "As our city absorbs this tragic news, we must come together as one. Today's actions are the beginning of the end of a long and arduous process."
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