In a string of raids conducted Thursday, FBI agents arrested ten current and former police officers from the Antioch and Pittsburg (California) police departments on charges ranging from criminal conspiracy to using police dogs against their targets, the Washington Post reports.
Following a two-year federal investigation, the defendants were charged with an array of felonies including criminal conspiracy, illegally distributing steroids, fraud, and obstruction. One of the charges is abuse of office “under color of law,” a charge similar to the one brought against the Trump organized crime syndicate.
Morteza Amiri, an officer with the Antioch police, was charged with instructing his police dog, Purcy, to attack, resulting in bites that required medical attention on 28 people; 19 of the people were Black. Only one in seven residents of Antioch is Black, putting the proportion of Black people Amiri ordered Purcy to attack at an unusually high clip.