San Jose police documents reveal identities of 2 other officers involved in racist text scandal
SAN JOSE, Calif. - KTVU has learned the identities of two other police officers involved in a racist text scandal that prompted the resignation of former San Jose police officer Mark McNamara, who shot a Black man on the steps of a taqueria and who is now the target of an excessive force lawsuit.
SJPD officer Brandon LeTemplier, who is on paid administrative leave, and William "Billy" Haggerty, who worked for SJPD from 2017 to 2020, were both senders and recipients of text messages exchanged with McNamara, according to an unredacted copy of documents reviewed by KTVU.
KTVU has decided to identify both officers as LeTemplier is still employed by the San Jose Police Department and both he and Haggerty could still find employment at other agencies. Haggerty has bounced around three police departments in six years. Neither are on any police decertification list at this point.
Attempts to reach LeTemplier and Haggerty by phone have not been successful.
Their police unions also did not respond for comment, and neither did spokespeople at their respective police departments.
"If people had contact with these officers, they need to know whether that contact was done with any type of underlying racial bias or animus," said Angel Alexander, whose law firm, Lawyers for the People, is suing McNamara after he shot and wounded her client, K’aun Green. "If you have hatred for the community that you’re serving, it’s a public safety issue."
San Jose police released a sampling of the text messages at the time of McNamara’s departure from the department in November, so it’s unclear if there are more messages sent by LeTemplier and Haggerty that have not been disclosed.
'I'm not a monster,' San Jose officer testifies in exclusive video before allegedly sending racist texts
KTVU has obtained exclusive video of former San Jose police officer Mark McNamara being deposed as part of a federal suit against him and the city after he shot and wounded a football player four times outside La Victoria Taqueria in March.
A text exchange between former SJPD officers Mark McNamara and Billy Haggerty.
But what’s clear from the collection of messages made public is that LeTemplier and Haggerty did not push back on McNamara’s racist messages, where he used the N-word dozens of times and stated clearly in at least one message "I hate black people."
In one text, Haggerty uses racially charged language himself.
"Why don’t black people have any sense in their head?" Haggerty texted McNamara.
Haggerty’s comment was in reference to McNamara complaining that he was being deposed by Alexander’s colleagues, who are Black and brown lawyers, about shooting Green, a college football player, on the steps of La Victoria Taqueria in March 2022.
Text messages that KTVU later confirmed were made by LeTemplier are not explicitly racist. But as one law enforcement official described, are certainly not professional or becoming of a peace officer.
"Yeah bruh I heard it was you right away. I was like oh shit my boi ganked some fool. Fuck yea lol," LeTemplier texted McNamara on March 28, 2022, a day after Green’s shooting.
McNamara texted back: "Your turn lol."
LeTemplier responded: "Lol ideally I won’t have too. But if some fool wants to get smokes then he gets smokes."
Officers were called to the taqueria on March 27, 2022, after someone called 911 to say there was a brawl inside and one of the customers had a gun. The call came about 30 minutes after a homicide was reported a few blocks away.
Police originally thought the two scenes might be related. But in the end, they were not.
Meanwhile, Green had been inside the taqueria at the time and ended up wrestling the gun away from an armed drunk customer.
Green was exiting the restaurant with the confiscated weapon in his hand when McNamara ordered him to drop it and then shot him almost simultaneously.
McNamara was the only officer to fire a weapon. Green was injured and survived.
And since Green is Black, Alexander and her colleagues are now alleging that McNamara’s shooting – in light of his texts – should be considered a hate crime.
"N- wanted to carry a gun in the Wild Wild West," McNamara texted LeTemplier the day after the fight at La Vic. "Not on my watch haha."
William Haggerty (center) is sworn in as an Eagan, Minn., police officer in April 2022.
Police Chief Anthony Mata released the set of semi-redacted texts to the public, singling out McNamara on Nov. 3, the same day that McNamara resigned from the department. Mata called the texts "disgusting."
Mata said he uncovered the texts while investigating McNamara for an unknown criminal matter, which still has yet to be disclosed.
In recent court filings, San Jose attorney Susan Coleman, said McNamara’s texts were "made in jest although admittedly in extremely poor taste."
"Of course, they're not getting paid to admit that their client is a racist bigot," Alexander said in an interview. "But as we know, these aren't jokes."
A second batch of McNamara’s racist texts were also released through Alexander’s civil suit, but KTVU has been unable to see an unredacted copy of the parties involved in that set of messages.
Because this second batch is still redacted, it’s unknown if there are more officers who were involved.
Alexander said it’s also important to note that in 2020, the San Jose Police Department was faced with another racist scandal where four officers were put on leave for anti-Muslim messages they wrote on Facebook.
Those officers’ names have not been made public. But the administration at the time vowed to make changes.
KTVU filed a public records request to determine the officers’ names and review any sustained findings of racism, which would have to be made public. San Jose police still insist that there is nothing to disclose because the investigation is still ongoing, four years later.
"San Jose patted themselves on the back and said that they did a good job getting rid of all the bad apples," Alexander said. "But apparently you have a whole different set of officers doing very similar things. There’s obviously something wrong with the ethos in the department."
San Jose police declined to discuss why LeTemplier was still employed with the department, citing a personnel matter.
Text exchange between SJPD officer Brandon LeTemplier and former SJPD officer Mark McNamara.
Haggerty left SJPD for unknown reasons about three years ago and then joined the Eagan Police Department in Minnesota in April 2021, the city confirmed.
Haggerty resigned from the Eagan Police Department on Nov. 9, 2023, KTVU learned, six days after McNamara’s texts became public.
KTVU has also learned that Haggerty worked for the Minneapolis Police Department for two weeks in 2022, from Sept. 12 to Sept. 30. The reason for this short job stint has not been explained.
It’s also unclear why McNamara was the only person to be outed in the text chain and not the other two.
Alexander believes it’s because he was "low-hanging fruit."
"I feel like they didn’t have much of a choice," she said. "And it’s easier to have that sacrificial lamb and pat yourself on the back and say, ‘Hey, we got the one bad apple.’ But as we’ve seen time and time again, there’s obviously more."
She added that it’s relevant who McNamara was texting.
"You don't engage in conversation with people who don't share those sentiments," she said.
Alexander said all these text conversions are relevant to her case.
"These messages are extremely significant because they show the reason that [McNamara] shot and tried to kill Mr. K’aun Green. It wasn't necessarily because he feared for his life. He feared a Black man, a Black man that he hated because he stated multiple times in text messages to different people on different occasions that he hates Black people. Plain and simple."
Lisa Fernandez is a reporter for KTVU. Email Lisa at lisa.fernandez@fox.com or call her at 510-874-0139. Or follow her on Twitter @ljfernandez