Top L.A. Sheriff’s Official Resigns over Racist Emails

Huffington Post
May 2, 2016

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tom-angel-los-angeles-resigns-racist-emails_us_572706e7e4b01a5ebde601b1?comm_ref=false&src=sp&utm_hp_ref=fb

A top aide to the Los Angeles County sheriff has resigned over emails he sent mocking several different groups of minorities, including Muslims and Latinos.

Sheriff Jim McDonnell announced the departure of Tom Angel, his chief of staff, in a statement posted to Facebook on Sunday. He called the messages, which also made light of the Catholic child sex abuse scandal, “inappropriate and unprofessional.”

The department last week defended Angel, who made an apology that rights groups found disappointing.

“Anybody in the workplace unfortunately forwards emails from time to time that they probably shouldn’t have forwarded,” Angel had told Los Angeles Times. “I apologize if I offended anybody, but the intent was not for the public to have seen these jokes.”

The emails, unearthed by the LA Times, were sent when Angel was a top official at the Burbank Police Department.

The jokes were particularly troubling for Muslims in the area, who have seen an increase in Islamophobic attacks, threats, and other incidents since last year’s San Bernardino shooting. Just two weeks ago, a Muslim student was kicked off a flight at Los Angeles for speaking Arabic.