Originally Posted by
therightperspective.org
A group of Philadelphia police officers are suing their department over an Internet message board whose posters allegedly made “racist” comments.
The Guardian Civic League filed the suit against Domelights.com, saying its users and moderators are White police officers who post racist messages on- and off-duty. The tag line for Domelights.com reads, “The Voice of the Good Guys.”
The League also claims that Domelights’ users “often joke about the racially offensive commentary on the site [....] or will mention them in front of black police officers,” thus creating “a racially hostile work environment.”
(You can read the lawsuit in its entirety here).
“Every time African-Americans do or say something in our city, we get this backlash of cops who think they’re anonymous on this Web site — just racist, nasty, hurtful things about what we do,” said Guardian Civic League president Rochelle Bilal, who is also a 23-year veteran of the force.
Guardian Civic League president Rochelle Bilal
Attorney Brian Mildenburg, who is representing the League in their suit and is also suing a Philadelphia day camp that allegedly turned away blacks from using their swimming pool, called the timing of the two suits “a gift from the heavens.”
Both Mildenburg and Bilal have been monitoring Domelights.com for at least ten years. The breaking point for Bilal came when posters commented on the swimming pool lawsuit by saying, “Maybe the people who work for a living didn’t want to swim with a bunch of ghetto monkey faces.”
“When they said something about our pretty, brown, young, innocent children and called them monkeys because they wanted to go swimming, that was enough,” Bilal said.
A Philadelphia police sergeant who moderates the site under the name “McQ” has been named in the suit. Mildenbeg quotes McQ as writing, “Blacks and other minorities frequently don’t have the resources that white people have. Consequently, blacks may not be able to keep their vehicles inspected, registered, and roadworthy.”
Asked why McQ bears responsibility for the racist remarks of his site’s anonymous commenters, Mildenberg said it was because “he started it.”
A statement posted by McQ on the site reads, “I categorically deny any wrongdoing on my part,” the message reads. “I did not make racist posts. I did not maintain the Web site on city time.”
Mildenberg wants the website shut down, and is seeking unspecified damages available under the Civil Rights Act for the city’s 2,300 African-American police officers.
Shelley Smith, Philadelphia’s city solicitor, said. “The lawsuit is about a private Web site. It’s not a police department Web site. It’s not operated or overseen by the police department. The allegations against the city and police department are misplaced.”
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