In Miami three officers have been reprotedly fired by the city manager after it emrged they used a group chat to joke about using Miami’s primarily black neighborhoods for target practice.

Kevin Bergnes, Miguel Valdes and Bruce Alcin all lost their jobs before christmas on 23rd December. This was after an internal affairs investigation deemed that they biolated department polocies, that is according to the Miami Herald who obtained documents on the situation.

The Grio reported:

The incident happened June 30, when the three officers responded to other rookie colleagues’ questions about shooting ranges in a WhatsApp chat they often used to communicate, the paper said. According to documents obtained by the Herald, the officers-in-training shared department information on that thread.

It said the documents show Bergnes sarcastically suggested the friend looking for a shooting range try a Bank of America, adding “they’ll even give you some cash.” He then suggested Model City — the police district that includes Liberty City and handles the bulk of the city’s shootings — as another location.

Valdes suggested a particular intersection in the Overtown community, according to the paper. It added that Alcin followed up, saying Valdes “wouldn’t understand” until he’s worked there.

The next day, an officer warned them that their words were offensive even though she didn’t think they were racist. “Your words can come back to bite you,” she allegedly wrote.

A sergeant learned of the conversation and ordered one officer to apologize. He also wrote a memo to a lieutenant about the matter, according to the Herald. Internal affairs began an investigation and concluded on Dec. 19 that they broke social media, courtesy and responsibility rules, the paper said.

Julia Dawson, an activist who was part of law enforement said:

“It’s indicative of the casual conversations and comments that young and even more seasoned police officers are used to making without a lot of repercussions,”

But some feel the whole thing has been too harsh. Their attorney, Stephan Lopez, spoke with the AP and said that they were just kids joking, he said:

“They wanted to make an example out of this. But they made an example of the wrong people,” Lopez said. “These guys didn’t shoot anybody. They were clearly joking around. They are kids. You don’t terminate them the day before Christmas Eve.”

He also made it clear that Alcin is African-American and Valdes’ grandfather is black.

Read more in The Grio: http://thegrio.com/2017/01/01/miami-officers-fired-black-people-target-practice/