California AG to Investigate Racist Texts by Torrance Police
A dozen police officers had exchanged racist text messages for years, joked about using violence against suspects and mocked the idea that internal affairs might catch them.
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California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta’s office will investigate the Torrance Police Department in the wake of a scandal that revealed more than a dozen police officers had exchanged racist text messages for years, joked about using violence against suspects, and mocked the idea that internal affairs might catch them, reports the Los Angeles Times. The Times identified 13 current and former Torrance police officers, and one Long Beach cop, who are under investigation as part of the scandal. At least nine of the officers shared texts or images that championed violence against Black people and members of the LGBTQ community, joked about beating up suspects, and mocked the idea of internal affairs investigations into racial profiling.
Fifteen officers are currently on administrative leave and those identified were involved in at least seven serious or fatal uses of force against Black or Latino men since 2013. The existence of the scandal came to light earlier this year as the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office was weighing criminal charges against two former officers, Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic, who allegedly spray-painted a swastika inside a vehicle they ordered to be towed in January 2020.
