The messages, which detail Antioch officers allegedly using racial epithets and homophobic slurs, could have far-reaching implications for criminal cases linked to the officers.
A judge released the investigative report compiled by the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office that included the partly redacted messages after a joint FBI and local investigation into the city’s police department.
The messages, which were sent in 2020 and 2021, detail officers' allegedly using racial epithets and homophobic slurs, sharing racist images and casually discussing the use of “less lethal” weapons on people, including the city's mayor, who is Black.
The majority of the roughly 114,000 residents of Antioch, about 45 miles northeast of San Francisco, are minorities.
In a message on Nov. 22, 2021, Rombough allegedly texted an officer, “I’m only stopping them cuz they black,” and added an expletive.
In a message included in the investigative report and dated April 29, 2020, Officer Morteza Amiri told an officer from a nearby department that because his agency does not record interviews on video, "I sometimes just say people gave me a full confession when they didn't."
"Gets filed easier," Amiri said, according to the report.