RaShall Brackney says she will use tapes she recorded with a number of city officials to prove that she was fired last fall for attempting to reform a police department that was racist, misogynist and not ready for reform.
“Those audio tapes are shocking!" she told reporters outside the federal building. "The city of Charlottesville was and still is so invested in its racial paternalism, misogyny and nepotism they would rather conspire to oust me than confront corrupt, violent individuals in CPD and still in city government.”
In a lawsuit filed in federal district court, her lawyer, Charles Tucker, argues Brackney had good reason to fire several officers for things they did or said on their cell phones -- things the Policemen’s Benevolent Association claimed were unprofessional but should not have cost the men their jobs.
“Text messages and videos talking about things like killing the command officers and letting God sort them out," Tucker recalls. "Praising one officer for abusing his children by forcing them to violently fight for his amusement were officers just being silly and videoing naked women in hotels on department-issued phones were just officers dealing with the pandemic.”
Brackney claims local officials dragged her good name through the mud after she was dismissed. Under the terms of her contract, she received a year’s pay – more than $162,000 -- and has accepted a teaching job at George Mason University.
