St Louis cop referred to Black district attorney as 'plate lips' in series of racist texts

On Thursday, TechDirt reported that a St. Louis, Missouri police officer accused of violently beating a Black undercover cop in 2017 is vigorously fighting to exclude a series of racist text messages he apparently sent from consideration in the case.

The case of Dustin Boone, the officer accused of the act of violence, ended in a mistrial in March, which involved two other white officers, one of whom was acquitted and other other of whom was partially acquitted. Boone was released on bond and faces a new trial in June.

The texts in question include liberal use of the N-word, and a racist attack on local District Attorney Kim Gardner, who is also Black.

"It's already a state of emergency!" said Boone in one text. "There are r n*****s running wild all across the city and even if/when we catch them..... they don't get in any trouble because there are plate lips running the CAO!" (The CAO is a reference to the district attorney's office run by Gardner.) In another text, apparently sent when he was out of town, he wrote, "What city r we in? These fuckin n*****s r the same as St. Louis n*****s."