ANTIOCH, Calif. (KRON) -- More racist text messages exchanged between Antioch police officers came to light on Monday when the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office released a second investigative report to the media.
The egregiously racist text messages and images were sent and received by certain Antioch Police Department officers in 2020 and 2021.
A judge ordered the District Attorney's Office to disclose redacted investigative reports to defense attorneys whose clients were arrested by police officers named in the reports. The first 21-page report was released on April 13, followed by the second 14-page report on Monday.
Prosecutors said they made redactions to balance "public interest" with the sensitive nature of what is contained in the reports.
The texts were described by Police Chief Steve Ford as "racially abhorrent."
Officers used language containing racial slurs, and referred to Black people as "zoo" and "circus" animals. "Bro the circus is in town… but it seems they only brought monkeys," Officer Aaron Hughes wrote on May 4, 2020, according to the report. Officer Jonathan Adams wrote on March 25, 2021, "They all look the same." Officer Eric Rombough replied texting, "Tell me about it. I feel like I'm at the zoo."
Documents showed Rombough also wrote a text stating, "Bottom line it doesn’t matter some gorilla killed another gorilla."
Rombough joined the Antioch Police Department in early 2017. According to the APD's "Meet Your Beat" Facebook post from 2020, he was assigned to the Problem Oriented Policing team, SWAT team, and Gang Unit.
Seventeen Antioch police officers are named in the two investigation reports:
- Sergeant Josh Evans
- Sergeant Rick Hoffman
- Officer Jonathan Adams
- Officer Morteza Amiri
- Officer Scott Duggar
- Detective Robert Gerber
- Officer Tom Smith
- Officer Brock Marcotte
- Officer Timothy Manly Williams
- Officer Aaron Hughes
- Officer Brayton Milner
- Officer Calvin Prieto
- Officer John Ramirez
- Officer Andrea Rodriguez
- Officer Eric Rombough
- Officer Kyle Smith
- Officer Devon Wenger
A judge previously cautioned defense attorneys that the documents contain explicit words and images that are hurtful, offensive, and inflammatory.
The District Attorney's Office wrote Monday, "The judge issuing the order reminded defense counsel about the sensitive nature of the content of the reports and urged caution in its distribution beyond the parties involved in the criminal case. Media interest in accessing the second report increased over the weekend when a copy of it was leaked to the press and public by an individual or group outside of the DA’s Office."
One day before the first investigation report was released by the DA's Office, Antioch Police Chief Steve Ford wrote an apology message to the community of Antioch.
Ford wrote, "I condemn – in the strongest possible terms – the racially abhorrent content and incomprehensible behavior being attributed to members of the Antioch Police Department in media reports. I have taken immediate action to ensure a thorough investigation by an external independent entity is conducted and the community is not exposed to any individuals under question from this reporting. On behalf of our organization, I apologize to the Antioch Community for the hurt caused by this hateful speech. I promise to hold accountable the officers expressing racist or bigoted beliefs, biased insensitivity, and those boasting about harming members of the community."
This breaking news story will be updated.
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