Lawsuit claims race bias by ATF supervisor with Nazi tattoo

SEATTLE – A black employee alleges her career as a federal law enforcement agent was impacted after she filed a complaint against a white supervisor with a Nazi-themed tattoo, according to a lawsuit.

The Seattle Times reported Sunday that the lawsuit says the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives withdrew Cheryl Bishop’s appointment to its Washington, D.C., headquarters after she filed a complaint about Bradford Devlin, a senior supervisor in the bureau’s Seattle division.

Devlin says his Nazi tattoo is a “war trophy” from his undercover work with a white-supremacist motorcycle gang in Ohio in the early 2000s.

The tattoo and a series of emails sent from Devlin’s ATF account mocking black people and then-President Barack Obama are key elements in Bishop’s lawsuit filed in 2018.

ATF spokeswoman April Langwell said in a statement that the agency “takes allegations of misconduct seriously, whether on duty or off duty.”

“We credit much of our success in fighting violent crime to the diversity of our workforce – diversity in talents, skills and experiences, and recognize that diversity provides perspective and flexibility to our operations,” she said.

A trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 28.

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Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com