Wild racist text messages shared between Kansas cops who have been involved in police-led shootings have been leaked to a local newspaper—and some of the officers appeared to escape largely unscathed for their offensive chats.
Unnamed sources familiar with department-wide investigations leaked the racist messages to The Wichita Eagle.
One message allegedly shared in the group by a white Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy showed a meme of cartoon character Elmer Fudd with a shotgun saying, “Be very, very quiet I’m hunting [racial slur].”
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The Eagle reports that the group messages were initially discovered by department bosses during a domestic violence investigation of another Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy, Sgt. Justin Maxfield, who was arrested in April 2021 for allegedly stalking his ex-girlfriend. Maxfield was suspended without pay the same day he was arrested; he was later convicted and put on probation.
Before resigning in 2021, he was allegedly notorious for sharing racist, homophobic, and sexist messages with other deputies, and encouraging them to do the same. The Eagle reports that in one message, Maxfield allegedly shared an image of George Floyd’s murder with the caption, “You’re telling me [racial slur] couldn’t breathe?” Arrows pointed to Floyd’s lips and nose, a source told the Eagle.
In another message to the group, Maxfield allegedly applauded his fellow SWAT team members for “permanently de-escalat[ing] people who needed permanent de-escalation.”
According to the Eagle, three cops responded to Maxfield’s message positively. One of them, Wichita Police officer Lee Froese, was involved in fatal shootings in 2012 and 2020, including a Black man who was shot in the back five times as he ran from a bar shooting. The Eagle states Froese had allegedly responded to Maxfield’s message by saying Maxfield also “de-escalated people who needed it.” After the messages surfaced, the three cops were allegedly coached on their actions; two are still with the Wichita police while Froese left on his own accord in 2021, the Eagle reports.
Another Wichita officer, Sgt. Jamie Crouch, is accused of sharing another meme of George Floyd’s murder, this time showing Floyd being pinned to the ground by an officer kneeling on his neck. However, instead of an officer, a naked Black man was photoshopped sitting on top of Floyd’s head. Crouch was reprimanded under the department’s bad judgment policy but was not suspended, the Eagle reported. Crouch did not respond to the Eagle’s request for comment but in notes provided to the city’s Civilian Review Board under an alias, he said he sent the photo “to lighten the situation and de-stress the SWAT team members.” Crouch was identified by the Eagle’s sources.
Crouch has a history with civilian shootings. According to the Eagle, he critically shot a Black 17-year-old he thought was wanted in a double homicide. However, the teen was not the suspect the police were searching for. In a report provided by the Wichita Citizen’s Review Board, which assists local police with community outreach, Crouch claimed that he did not have a “bias towards any particular group.” He is still employed by the Wichita Police Department.
The texts did not stop there. Another Sedgwick County deputy allegedly sent the group chat a meme mocking the apparent discovery of a noose in Black NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace’s garage. The meme showed cone-shaped cups with the caption, “Breaking news: KKK hoods found next to water cooler in Bubba Wallace’s garage.” The officer was later placed on paid suspension and retired in September.
The Eagle’s report showed a vast difference in how the sheriff’s department and the police department treated the discovery of the messages.
Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter, who called the messages “a big deal,” told The Daily Beast that three deputies were fired over it and could be impeached if they engaged in deceitfulness or racial bias.
“By law, I had to notify the U.S. Attorney’s Office because that’s potential information against these deputies, and also the District Attorney because that’s potential impeachment material,” he said.
Once the officers were terminated, he added, their information was turned over to Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training, a state organization that handles officer licensing.
“They do a separate investigation to determine whether or not their licenses will be revoked. Then, they can never be cops again,” he said.
In contrast, the Wichita Police didn’t respond to the Eagle’s multiple requests for comment and it appears that the strictest punishment wasn’t handed out for vile racism but for insulting the boss. Sources told the newspaper that of the 11 Wichita officers investigated over the messages, just one was given a multi-day suspension for calling then chief Gordon Ramsay “a tool.” That officer later retired after nearly 30 years with the department.
The communications office for the Wichita Police Department did not responded to The Daily Beast’s request for comment Monday.
