Racist, sexist, sexually explicit and derogatory images and text messages sent by a predominantly White group of North Carolina State Highway Patrol troopers and exclusively obtained by The Emancipator offer a troubling glimpse into the level of abuse Black troopers have faced from colleagues and supervisors.
The images range from sexually demeaning depictions of former vice president and 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris to blow-up dolls placed on a Black officer’s desk to hateful messages about Latinos to jokes about a Black woman’s funeral.
Following The Emancipator’s investigation into the treatment of Black state troopers, the Department of Justice is now reviewing one trooper’s complaint about alleged violations of his rights as a member of the military.
Over the past several months, more than a dozen Black current and former North Carolina state troopers have shared their experiences with The Emancipator anonymously out of fear for their safety and job retaliation, detailing a systemic pattern of racial discrimination they say begins at the agency’s training school and continues throughout their careers.
The Emancipator has reached out to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol and their general counsel multiple times for comment but has not received a response.
The group chat of a district of North Carolina state troopers includes one Black trooper with messages ranging from 2022 to 2025.
The Emancipator has blurred names and photos as part of our ongoing investigation in an effort to help protect the identities of the whistleblowers. We have also blurred some details in photos deemed extremely explicit.
In the summer of 2024, a White trooper joked about a funeral for a Black woman who was found dead in jail. “I guess we all need to attend her funeral. I’m sure she will need a ride somewhere,” the trooper wrote to the group.
After a Latino man was arrested in November 2025, a White trooper wrote to the group, “Another piece of shit that a lawyer is ready to defend.” Another White trooper responded, “And they wonder why we don’t want them here.”
In a set of messages leading up to the 2024 presidential election, troopers joked about committing voter fraud and voting more than once for then-candidate Donald Trump.
They also wrote disparagingly about people of color who are federal agents, candidates who support people of color and also repeatedly announced their support for Trump. “Go Trump,” one White trooper sent to the group.
A White trooper joked about another White trooper voting for Kamala Harris because he “identifies” with her and they have “the same hair products budget.” There was also a lewd picture shared of the former vice president committing a sexual act. The Emancipator has opted not to show the manipulated image of Harris due to its extremely graphic nature.
In several instances, troopers shared photos of confidential police documents and private information about citizens. One trooper posted a photo of a patient on a gurney in a hospital and joked about their condition, including sticking a “finger up their a**.”
There were also sexually explicit images and jokes, including a blow-up doll left on the desk of a trooper.
