Ferguson mayor makes brief statement about racist emails, takes no questions

The report found a pattern of racially discriminatory policing over the past several years, excessive use of force, that police were taking actions for the sake of generating revenue, and that employees sent a number of racist emails to one another via government accounts. One of those emails, according to ABC News, read:

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.”

In a Wednesday evening press conference, Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said the three police supervisors who sent the emails are being investigated and that one has been fired. The other two have been placed on leave.

“Let me be clear, this type of behavior will not be tolerated in the Ferguson Police Department or in any department in the city of Ferguson,” Knowles read from a prepared statement. “These actions taken by these individuals are in no way representative of the employees of the city of Ferguson.”