Top Los Angeles police official resigns over racist and Islamophobic emails

Tom Angel served as the chief of staff for Sheriff Jim McDonnell since 2014.

Tom Angel resigned from his post on Sunday. (CBS Los Angeles)

Tom Angel, a top official with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, resigned on Sunday after after he was caught sharing racist emails at his previous job.

Angel served as the chief of staff for Sheriff Jim McDonnell since 2014, and forwarded emails that contained stereotypes offensive to women, Muslims, blacks and Latinos while working as the number two official at the Burbank Police Department in 2012 and 2013.

"I took my Biology exam last Friday," one of the forwarded emails reads, "I was asked to name two things commonly found in cells. Apparently 'Blacks' and 'Mexicans' were NOT the correct answers.”

Several emails attempted to justify the racial profiling of Muslims as terrorism suspects, the Los Angeles Times reports, and listed 20 reasons “Muslim Terrorists are so quick to commit suicide.”

Sheriff McDonnell accepted Angel’s resignation on Sunday, calling the revelation “deeply disturbing.”

“Despite the Sheriff’s Department’s many recent efforts to fortify public trust and enhance internal and external accountability and transparency, this incident reminds us that we and other law enforcement agencies still have work to do,” McDonnell said in a statement. “I intend to turn this situation into a learning opportunity for all LASD personnel.”

Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, previously called for Sheriff McDonnell to force Angel’s resignation after the racist, Islamophobic and misogynistic emails came to light.

"Sheriff Jim McDonnell has a reputation for building bridges across all of Los Angeles’ communities,” Al-Marayati said in a statement. “Holding Mr. Angel accountable for his actions by demonstrating a zero tolerance policy for hate and bigotry is critical for the LA Sheriff’s Department to maintain public trust, especially in the face of the growing climate of bigotry and racism we are witnessing across the country.”

Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the Los Angeles Urban Policy Roundtable, criticized Sheriff McDonnell for waiting to act until public criticism grew against Angel.

“You’re not doing anything if your initial reaction is, 'That’s horrible, that’s terrible, but there’s nothing I can do or nothing I intend to do,'” Hutchinson told the LA Times. “This is your department. You are the man at the top, you set the direction, the tempo, the climate for the department. If you don’ t take action, what you’re saying is the department doesn’t care.”