b. Direct Evidence of Racial Bias
Our investigation uncovered direct evidence of racial bias in the communications of
influential Ferguson decision makers. In email messages and during interviews, several court
and law enforcement personnel expressed discriminatory views and intolerance with regard to
race, religion, and national origin. The content of these communications is unequivocally
derogatory, dehumanizing, and demonstrative of impermissible bias.
We have discovered evidence of racial bias in emails sent by Ferguson officials, all of
whom are current employees, almost without exception through their official City of Ferguson
email accounts, and apparently sent during work hours. These email exchanges involved several
police and court supervisors, including FPD supervisors and commanders. The following emails
are illustrative:
A November 2008 email stated that President Barack Obama would not be
President for very long because “what black man holds a steady job for four
years.”
A March 2010 email mocked African Americans through speech and familial
stereotypes, using a story involving child support. One line from the email read:
“I be so glad that dis be my last child support payment! Month after month, year
after year, all dose payments!”
An April 2011 email depicted President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee.
A May 2011 email stated: “An African-American woman in New Orleans was
admitted into the hospital for a pregnancy termination. Two weeks later she
received a check for $5,000. She phoned the hospital to ask who it was from.
The hospital said, ‘Crimestoppers.’”
A June 2011 email described a man seeking to obtain “welfare” for his dogs
because they are “mixed in color, unemployed, lazy, can’t speak English and have
no frigging clue who their Daddies are.”
An October 2011 email included a photo of a bare-chested group of dancing women,
apparently in Africa, with the caption, “Michelle Obama’s High School Reunion.”
A December 2011 email included jokes that are based on offensive stereotypes
about Muslims.
