Veteran Sacramento police officer sues city, alleges ‘anti-Black culture’ in department
A former Sacramento police acting sergeant is suing the city, alleging the department has a pervasive “anti-Black culture,” harmed the careers of African American cops and permitted politically divisive behavior among favored officers.
Obed Magny, a Black man, alleges in the lawsuit that he experienced racial discrimination, retaliation, and harassment when he worked as an officer from 2006 through 2020. He filed the lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court last month.
“The message within the organization was clear — unless you are a white conservative, you don’t belong,” the lawsuit alleged. “In fact, you have to give up your Blackness and assimilate to the culture if you want to have a career at SacPD.”
The lawsuit centers on events in 2019 and 2020, including during the racial justice protests that followed George Floyd’s death at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer. The Sacramento Police Department at the time was led by Daniel Hahn, the city’s first Black chief.
As of 2020, about 5% of the Police Department’s 1,170 employees were Black, and Magny alleged the department favors white officers with mentoring that leads to promotions.
The lawsuit alleges police leaders went “out of their way” to mentor white officers to help them on their tests for sergeant promotions, but failed to help Black officers, leading to only three Black officers making sergeant in the past 20 years.
City spokesman Tim Swanson declined to comment on the lawsuit. The city had not yet been served with the complaint this week, he said.
In one instance, Magny alleges a lieutenant assigned to south Sacramento in 2019 was “incensed” because officers on Magny’s team had not used force or engaged in a pursuit.
Lt. Neil Cybulski’s “premise was that (Magny’s) team wasn’t working hard enough,” the lawsuit states. “With community members in Sacramento and all over the United States looking for more compassion and empathy (relational policing), it didn’t make sense that hard work meant using force and engaging in pursuits.”
Cybulski is still a lieutenant, Swanson said.
In another instance, Magny alleges a lieutenant used a racial stereotype to describe people protesting Floyd’s death in 2020.
The lieutenant “was talking about an unruly group that was causing a disturbance. As he was freely speaking, he referred to these protesting people as, ‘The Hennessey drinking group,’” the lawsuit alleges. “The smile on his face, the hubris in the manner he spoke, gave the impression that he was with his people.
“When (Magny) met up with the other Black officers in the room, they all came to the same conclusion about what he was saying. They knew complaining about the incident would have led to retaliatory attacks like those (Magny) and others had suffered.”
Justin Risley, who allegedly made the comment, was since promoted to captain, then retired, Swanson said. He is now a reserve police officer for the city.
Magny in the lawsuit states he and other officers concluded they could not complain about the remarks without experiencing “retaliatory attacks.”
Further, Magney alleges conservative police officers expressed their politics with mugs and T-shirts that read “liberal tears” and with large posters showing former President Donald Trump that was displayed at the city horse stable.
Magny’s career stalled in 2019 and 2020 as he sought a promotion to sergeant, the lawsuit alleges. He ranked highly on the promotion list in 2019, but Hahn ultimately gave him the rank of acting sergeant before demoting him.
The department declined Magny’s claims for workers’ compensation due to stress he experienced from the racism in the department, the lawsuit alleges. The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing issued Magny a “right to sue” letter last year.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 22, also names Ethan Hanson and Adam Green, who were captains at the time. Hanson is still a captain, and Green is now a deputy chief.
This story was originally published January 12, 2023 at 6:00 AM.
