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PREVIOUSLY:

• Sac Bee Investigation Details Vile Group Chat Among Members of One EPD Squad
• Officers Named in Sac Bee Article Placed on Administrative Leave; Chief Says Outside, Impartial Investigator Will be Brought In to Examine Hateful Group Texts
• Eureka Police Union: ‘Abhorrent’ Texts in Sac Bee Story ‘Do Not Reflect Character or Integrity’ of Most Officers
• Asm. Wood Reacts to Despicable Group Chat Among Members of a Eureka Police Department Squad

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There will be a community rally at the Humboldt County Courthouse this afternoon and evening, after the Sacramento Bee’s expose on a string of vile text messages sent among members of one Eureka Police Department squad last year.

According to this Facebook event page — “Protest Police Brutality and Bigotry of the Eureka Police Department” — the rally is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m., though we’ve seen other indications that some people plan to show up as early as three.

The Bee story documented a string of violent, sexist and generally xenophobic text messages sent last year among members of an EPD watch led by longtime officer Sgt. Rodrigo Reyna-Sanchez. Sanchez and another officer — Mark Meftah — have been placed on administrative leave, and Chief Steve Watson has promised an independent investigation into the matter.

In the meantime, both Watson and the Eureka Police Officers’ Association — the union representing the rank and file officers — have denounced the text messages, and the Bee’s story has gone national, with stories in the Washington Post and elsewhere.