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A Black sheriff says he was subjected to racial harassment by his colleagues, including racist comments about fried chicken and his lips, per Hawaii News Now.
Martin Horton said the harassment started after his graduation in December when he became a new deputy sheriff working at the state Capitol in Hawaii.
Horton recalled facing repeated racist comments about fried chicken by another deputy sheriff.
In December 2023, Horton said Deputy Alvin Turla, his first field training officer, repeatedly made degrading comments towards him. “It was a sexual comment that he had made not just one time, but at least two times, referencing to my lips,” he said.
Horton said he reported the incident to Sgt. Erich Mitamura.
“His comment to me was that you’re nothing, you’re no one,” Horton said. “It devalued me and as a trainee, he was my sergeant. I accepted it.”
Horton said his concerns were brought to light during an interview with the Department of Law Enforcement’s Criminal Investigations Division in March about the culture at the capitol.
“A reasonable person, if placed in that situation, would have found it offensive, would have found it misogynistic, would have found it discriminatory, because the language that is used, and the people who are targeted are either of a different ethnicity, or gender,” Horton said.
Mitamura and Turla were arrested for harassment and are currently on paid leave. The department has also opened three separate criminal probes into other sheriff deputies.
Horton said of his situation: “I can’t categorize it as being criminal, but as a subordinate ... when something to that magnitude where someone is being degraded, they’re being humiliated in the sense, I felt like my rights were being violated."
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