Two Ohio Cops Suspended With Pay Over ‘I Hate N***ers, I’ll Stab A Coon’ Texts

Two cops were suspended in Ohio after the Dayton chapter of the NAACP brought a string of racist texts to the attention of authorities.

Captain Thomas Flanders and Michael Sollenberger, a detective, both working for Montgomery County, Ohio, were placed on indefinite leave with pay for their part in the scandal.

The department has not released the names of three others who were implicated in the texts, and the individuals have not been suspended, though Sheriff Phil Plummer did confess that the investigation is “in its early stages.”

WHIO-TV reports that it was NAACP Dayton President Derrick Forward who brought the racist texts to light. He would not reveal how he got them or the names of anyone who may have provided them.

The shocking comments included the following.

“I hate n***ers. That is all.

“I’ll stab a coon.

“What do apples and black people have in common? They both hang from trees.”

Forward noted that some of the texts “may have been joking,” but there were others that he found “flat out rude and racist.”

Plummer didn’t believe there was anything funny at all about the texts, and said that it hints at a deeper problem within his department that puts Montgomery County law enforcement at odds with the public trust.

“I feel like these five individuals have taken this organization three steps backward, and that’s not what I am about,” Plummer said in a press conference.

Flanders has spoken to the press, simply stating that the allegations are “false” and that he “isn’t racist.” He has a 19-year career with the Sheriff’s office, and he added that he had not been shown the text messages from which Sheriff Plummer was acting and that he “looked forward to clearing” his name, according to WDTN.

None of the other four have commented to the press. The text messages were allegedly sent from the officers’ personal phones during a period of time from November 2011 to January 2013, and during personal and while on duty.

Plummer’s investigation will attempt to verify the authenticity of the racist texts to see if they are legitimate or fabrications.

What do you think should happen if these allegations turn out to be true, readers? Is it possible for an officer to effectively do their duty while harboring racial biases or telling racist jokes? Should the cops suspended be fired altogether? Sound off in our comments section.

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