Ferguson fires city court clerk over racist emails

FERGUSON, Mo. (AP) — The city of Ferguson has identified an employee fired for sending racist emails to co-workers as its former municipal court clerk.

City spokesman Jeff Small today identified the fired worker as court clerk Mary Ann Twitty. She did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment on her home telephone.

A Justice Department report released Wednesday cited a series of inappropriate messages sent by an unspecified number of city employees, including one message that depicted President Barack Obama as a chimpanzee and another that compared black welfare recipients to mixed-breed dogs.

Ferguson Mayor James Knowles said today that two other city employees placed on administrative leave are also no longer working for Ferguson. He declined to specify whether they were fired or resigned.