Austin Police Officer Fired Over Racist Texts
Austin Police Chief Brian Manley has indefinitely suspended – in other words, fired – an officer because of racist texts he sent back in March.
Officer Daniel Castelline, who has worked for APD since 2017, sent several text messages as part of a group conversation that included two former officers. The text thread, as laid out in a memo Manley sent Nov. 5, includes offensive language:
Officer Castelline: We’re definitely getting corona. And it’ll be that bastard phuc pham.
Former Officer 1: Lol Yup! He’s the one that actually started it
Former Officer 2: Hmm Racist much??
Former Officer 1: No just being truthful
Former Officer 2: Kind of afraid of catching the corona. A Lot of Slants over here.
About a week later, according to the memo, Castelline sent another text to the group, this time with a meme showing an African-American man who looked like a hospital patient in response to a department announcement that detectives would be pulled to work patrol.
Read more: https://www.kut.org/austin/2020-11-25/austin-police-officer-fired-over-racist-texts
