Lexington police officer resigns over racist videos. He was slated to be fired
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Resigned Dec. 2 after PIU found he sent racist videos, some created with AI.
- Disciplinary board recommended termination; Yeager had served just over three years
- PIU probe started on another officer; formal complaints released only after completion.
A Lexington police officer has voluntarily resigned after being investigated for sending inappropriate and racist videos to a fellow police officer, according to police disciplinary documents.
Joshua Yeager resigned Dec. 2, a little less than a month after a Lexington Police Department disciplinary review board, which consists of high-ranking police officers and two citizens, recommended Nov. 13 Yeager be terminated.
Yeager has been with the department for a little more than three years, according to disciplinary records.
Yeager, who could not be reached for comment, was investigated after the department’s Public Integrity Unit, its internal affairs department, began an investigation of a different unnamed officer. During that investigation, officers found racist and inappropriate videos Yeager had sent or received via social media.
It’s not clear who that other officer was. That person’s name has been redacted from disciplinary records.
Lexington Police Sgt. Bige Towery, a spokesman for the department, said a formal complaint was not filed in that case and the department “does not discuss personnel issues outside of completed disciplinary procedures.”
According to Yeager’s police disciplinary documents, there were multiple videos sent or received by Yeager that were disrespectful, many of them created using artificial intelligence. Yeager sent two racially inappropriate videos, police investigators found.
One such AI video Yeager sent was of a “white, uniformed police officer ordering a coffee in a coffee shop. The barista sits the coffee down and the officer says ‘It’s black’ and stands up and shoots the coffee with his firearm.”
Yeager, in an interview with investigators, said he shared the video because he thought the AI was so realistic and, “It was more like, oh crap, look how real it is and look what people are saying,” Yeager told investigators. “I think I interpret the coffee one a little differently. I don’t, I think that’s more dehumanizing towards police.”
Another Instagram video showed a white person pouring out water in front of Black African villagers.
“Again, that was when, like, holy crap, like this is, look how realistic this, like this is becoming and thinking that’s what’s going on,” according to a summary of comments Yeager made to investigators.
Yeager said he never meant to dehumanize Black people by sharing those videos.
“I, my interpretation of those videos, me personally came from the idea of like more, it’s the shock factor, not the shock value of it. Not that like, I agree with these types of things. It’s more like, oh crap, look at this AI, look how real it is and look what’s going on,” Yeager told investigators.
Yeager did not post any of these videos publicly. It appears they were in private messages between himself and the unknown officer.
In a later interview Yeager told investigators after reflection he understood how sharing those videos reflected poorly on himself and his character.
It appears the unknown officer resigned July 31 before the investigation into that officer was completed, according to Yeager’s disciplinary records. Lexington police only release information on completed formal complaints.
Formal complaints are investigated by the department’s Public Integrity Unit. Informal complaints are first investigated usually by the officer’s supervising officer or within the bureau the officer is assigned. If there is evidence an officer violated department rules, those informal complaints can become formal complaints.
