A special closed session meeting was called for the Shasta County Board of Supervisors Thursday afternoon specifically to discuss a lawsuit filed against the county by a now-retired sheriff’s department captain. After 36 years with the sheriff’s office, Pat Kropholler retired in January of 2022. By then, Michael Johnson was the sheriff, but Kropholler had issues with former sheriff Eric Magrini. Captain Kropholler was President of the Sheriff’s Administrative Association, which issued a scathing assessment of Magrini in June of 2021. He was subsequently placed on leave, and his lawsuit apparently claims that was a retaliatory action. Some details about the relationship between Magrini and Kropholler were contained in documents the Redding Record Searchlight acquired through a protracted court battle. The newspaper says that during social justice demonstrations in Redding in 2020, Magrini distributed a photo among some staffmembers that showed Captain Kropholler with a Hitler moustache, and suggested jokingly that the photo could be used to goad the demonstrators into burning down the Sheriff’s South County Patrol Substation, which was in disrepair. Magrini ended up resigning and was given the newly created position of Assistant Executive Officer, with a 31% boost in salary. Magrini has been on paid leave since last Spring, and is working as a realtor. Kropholler’s lawsuit was filed in May of 2022.
-Steve Gibson