Protesters rally at Antioch police headquarters in Antioch, Calif., on April 18, 2023. | Source: MediaNews Group/East Bay Times via Getty Images / Getty
Somehow, the American justice system has gotten it into its head that it can train the racism out of racist police officers — and it’s betting Black lives on it.
In April 2023, a Contra Costa County judge released the names of 17 Antioch, California, police officers accused of trading racist text messages that included free use of racial slurs, racist jokes, memes mocking the death of George Floyd, and a conversation between two officers conspiring to target Black people with traffic citations . Since then, the Antioch Police Department has faced an audit of its officers, one of the officers accused of sending the texts resigned, and it was revealed that three other officers had been charged with federal civil rights violations because they weren’t just talking about being brutal and unabashedly racist cops in a group chat; they were allegedly in the streets using excessive force via K9s and non-lethal projectiles. The indicted officers are also accused of taking pictures and videos of themselves abusing citizens and bragging about their actions to other officers. According to CNN , “The trial for those officers is scheduled to begin in February, federal court records show – though one of the officers has already been convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud in a related case.”