( CNN ) The racist and offensive emails that resulted in three Ferguson , Missouri , city employees either resigning or being fired have been released . The exchanges between the city 's top court clerk and two police officers were discovered during a U.S. Justice Department investigation of racial prejudice in the city 's police and judicial system . The emails -- which make offensive references to President Barack Obama , first lady Michelle Obama as well as Muslims and minorities -- were obtained by the Washington Post on Thursday after a public records request . CNN reviewed them Friday . Police Capt . Rick Henke and Sgt . William Mudd resigned early last month after the emails were discovered as part of the evidence in the Justice Department 's scathing Ferguson report . The city 's top court clerk , Mary Ann Twitty , was fired in connection with the emails , officials said . One email showed Ronald Reagan , an actor before becoming President , feeding a chimp in the 1951 comedy `` Bedtime for Bonzo , '' with the caption : `` Rare photo of Ronald Reagan babysitting Barack Obama in 1962 . '' Another showed a photo of bare-chested dancing women , apparently in Africa , with the caption `` Michelle Obama 's High School Reunion ! '' A June 2011 email described a man trying to put his dogs on welfare because the canines were `` mixed in color , unemployed , lazy , ca n't speak English and have no ... clue who their Daddies are . '' Some critics have called for the department to be disbanded . Last month , embattled Police Chief Thomas Jackson resigned one week after the scathing Justice Department report slammed his department . Jackson will receive a severance payment and health insurance for one year , city officials said . Opinion : Change is coming to Ferguson . U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ordered the Ferguson police investigation after a white police officer , Darren Wilson , shot and killed black teenager Michael Brown last summer , setting off months of sometimes violent street protests in the town outside St. Louis . The DOJ declined to bring charges against Wilson , who has since left the force . No state charges were filed . In a separate report , the Justice Department described what it said was a `` pattern and practice '' of discrimination against African-Americans by the Ferguson police and municipal courts . That discrimination included racist emails . Ferguson is a town of 21,000 that is 67 % African-American . Among the findings in the report : . From 2012 to 2014 , 85 % of people subject to vehicle stops by Ferguson police were African-American , 90 % of those who received citations were blac and 93 % of people arrested were black . In 88 % of the cases in which Ferguson police officers reported using force , it was against African-Americans . From 2012-2014 black drivers were twice as likely as white drivers to be searched during traffic stops , but 26 % less likely to be found in possession of contraband . Ferguson police chief mum on federal report . CNN 's Ralph Ellis , John Newsome and Sara Sidner contributed to this report .
Racially - charged and offensive emails from Ferguson released after public records request . nine senior police officers resigned over racist emails . police 's top chief clerk was fired .