A California officer involved in controversial police shootings is resigning over racist lyrics, chief says
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — A California police officer involved in a controversial shooting last year has resigned after racist text messages he wrote were discovered, some of which trivialized the shooting, a police chief says.
who joined the San Jose Police Department in 2017, resigned last week after being informed of an investigation into his offensive messages, said Police Chief Anthony Mata Bay Area News Group.
Mata said McNamara was being investigated by the department’s internal affairs division for an unrelated and unspecified matter and that this had led to the revelation that he had sent “disgusting text messages that showed racial bias.”
A dossier of text messages shows McNamara speaking to two unnamed recipients and referencing the shooting of K’aun Green on March 27, 2022, the chief said.
McNamara shot and wounded Green, a black man, after Green apparently broke up a fight that broke out at a restaurant near San Jose State University. According to police, Green was disarming one of the combatants and backing out the front door with a confiscated handgun in the air when he was shot.
In a text message the day after the shooting, McNamara appeared to refer to Green with a racial slur. Additional messages from June 2023 appear to have been sent while McNamara was being questioned by prosecutors and Green’s legal team, which was suing the city over the shooting.
Adanté Pointer, whose law firm Lawyers for the People represents Green, said the news confirmed to him that his client’s shooting was “for racist reasons.”
McNamara’s contact information could not be found Sunday.
Steve Slack, president of the San Jose Police Officers Association, said the text message investigation was “a disturbing reminder that not everyone has the moral compass necessary to be in the law enforcement profession… This behavior is beyond unacceptable and we condemn it.” in the strongest terms.” .”
