Denver police officers fired over "disturbing" messages that "joked" about shooting migrants

Three Denver police officers have been fired months after the department says it learned about text messages exchanged between them that the department says contained jokes about shooting newly arrived migrants at a shelter.

The department says the messages were sent on March 27 and the department learned about the messages on April 4. On July 22, they were fired, the department said on Wednesday. The three officers -- Rodrigo Basurto, Meagan Joy and Scot Persichette -- were new to the force, having still been in the probationary phase of employment after graduating from the Denver Police Academy, the department said.

"The messages joked about going to newcomer shelters for target practice. Due to the abhorrent nature of the messages, the officers, who were still in the probationary phase of employment following their graduation from the Denver Police Academy, were terminated from the Denver Police Department," the department said in a statement Wednesday.

The department says it reported the terminations for cause to the Colorado Peace Officer Standards and Training, as required by law. POST is a database of Colorado certified law enforcement officers maintained by the state's Department of Law. It includes information such as terminations, criminal charges and other disciplinary actions brought against officers and deputies.

It wasn't immediately clear how the messages were brought to the attention of investigators or supervisors, but the department says there were other officers in the group chat where the messages were shared and that they'd be receiving training in response to the messages.

"The Denver Police Department is appalled by the subject of the messages, which are contradictory to the mission and values of the Department, and disrespect not only newcomers and our community, but also every other officer working to keep everyone in our community safe," the department's statement continued. "Additional Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity training and Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) training will be provided to the other officers on that group chat."