Michael Elsbury, a Baton Rouge police officer with 15 years on the force, resigned yesterday amid gathering pressure over text messages in which he fantasized about violence against "niggers" and "those African monkeys."

Via Raw Story:

In one message, Officer Elsbury — whose patrol included the area around the historically black Southern University — wrote that blacks are "nothing but a bunch of monkeys," and that the "only reason they have this job is the nigger, nigger in them." It is unclear what "job" he is referring to.

In another text, he wrote that "I wish someone would pull a Ferguson on them and take them out. I hate looking at those African monkeys at work…I enjoy arresting those thugs with their saggy pants."

Police were apparently already investigating the texts—sent to a female friend of Elsbury's—when local station WBRZ caught wind of them. By Wednesday evening, the police had suspended Elsbury, and he resigned the next day, Raw Story reports.

Police Chief Carl Dabadie said the texts made him "sick to my stomach," but he believed they represented "an isolated incident that occurred between the officer and this girl," adding, "I have 650 officers, and 649 of them work their butts off every day for the city of Baton Rouge."