It’s been more than a month since the Contra Costa County District Attorney's office publicly released a series of racist text messages between Antioch police officers. And on Friday, demonstrators gathered in Martinez to make sure the issue is not forgotten, saying the officers involved in the scandal need to be fired.
Several of the officers are already on leave pending an external investigation, but for community organizers like Shagoofa Khan, who was referenced by officers in the text messages, suspension isn’t enough.
“The community of Antioch do not want those officers who were involved in those text messages ever patrolling the city of Antioch or anywhere ever again,” said Khan.
Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit against the city of Antioch were also there. Their lawyer, John Burris, says it’s important not to let anyone sweep the topic under the rug.
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“I think it’s very, very important for the community to protest and speak out,” he said. “Don’t want it to go away.”
Antioch Mayor Lamar Thorpe was also in the crowd after writing an open letter Friday morning to the police chief.
He’s calling on the chief to do two things. First, decommission a military-style vehicle owned by the police department.
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“It was designed for the war in Iraq, specifically against IED explosions, attacks,” said Thorpe. “I don’t know when’s the last time we had an IED explosion or attack in the city of Antioch, so we just don't need that."
He also wants to bar elected members of the police union from serving on the police department’s internal affairs team.
“The police union is there to defend their members, which is fine, but more importantly the leadership and so it doesn't make sense to have someone who's going to potentially defend you in some arbitration or whatever, and you investigated them,” said Thorpe.
NBC Bay Area reached out to the police chief for comment but has not heard back.
A formal decision regarding the mayor’s requests will take place at the next city council meeting.
In the meantime, community organizers like Khan will continue demonstrations until changes are made.
“Whether it’s protests, whether it's public comments, whether its other actions, whether it's Q&A with the chief. Because at the end of the day, the chief of police is not doing anything. He has the authority to fire these officers, yet he hasn’t done anything,” said Khan.
