LA County Sheriff's top official resigns over racist, sexist emails

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s chief of staff resigned after the Los Angeles Times discovered a string of emails sent from the official’s work account filled with jokes mocking Muslims, blacks, Latinos, women and others, the newspaper reported Sunday.

The official, Tom Angel, sent the chain emails in 2012 and 2013 while working at the Burbank Police Department, where he served as deputy chief.

Angel was brought in to help reform the department after it was accused of racism, sexual harassment and brutality, according to the Times.

The resignation came after the Times obtained the emails under an open records act and published them last week, which sparked a public outcry for Angel’s removal.

"Anybody in the workplace unfortunately forwards emails from time to time that they probably shouldn't have forwarded," Angel told the Times prior to his resignation.

"I apologize if I offended anybody, but the intent was not for the public to have seen these jokes."

The chain emails forwarded by Angel, who described himself as Mexican, contain explicit language and largely focus on Muslims, but also mocked overweight people, Latinos and blacks.

“I took my Biology exam last Friday,” one email sent by Angel said. “I was asked to name two things commonly found in cells. Apparently ‘Blacks’ and ‘Mexicans’ were NOT the correct answers.”

Sheriff Jim McDonnell, who previously stated he had no plans to discipline Angel for the emails, later accepted the resignation as a “learning opportunity” for employees, the Times reported.

“This incident is one that I find deeply troubling,” McDonnell said.

“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.”

See the LASD statement below.