A police officer in Asheville, North Carolina admitted to authorities that he was responsible for sending racist text messages to other police officers. Sgt. Eric Lauffer, 47 forwarded text messages to members of the” Police Department’s drug suppression unit. The drug suppression unit has about 15 members according to Police Department spokeswoman Melissa Williams.
The racist text messages were derogatory and directed toward African Americans. One sent around the time of President Barack Obama’s election in November 2008 read “due to recent events: grape soda, red kool-aid, fried chicken, malt liquor, menthol cigarettes and gold teeth will be tax exempt.”
Initially, city officials denied that Chief Bill Hogan took no immediate action after complaints first surfaced. Lauffer was one of two officers selected as officer of the year in 2008. The allegation is part of a suit that also states that Officer Lauffer also sent sexually explicit text to a female officer, Cherie Byrd. Byrd brought Lauffer’s behavior to the attention of her superiors, and after she received no response in a yaer’s time, she provided copies of the texts to the department’s Internal Affairs division. In one message, Lauffer texted Byrd a picture of the back side of a naked man and another of a cartoon character humping the floor with the caption ‘I’d hit it like this.’
Byrd filed a lawsuit against the Asheville Police Department, the City of Asheville and her supervisor is still in federal court. -torrance stephens
