A Redondo Beach man whose car was allegedly vandalized with racist graffiti by two Torrance police officers filed a federal lawsuit against the South Bay city this week, revealing new details about the incident, which sparked an investigation that revealed more than a dozen Torrance cops had been exchanging racist and homophobic text messages for years.

Kiley Swaine, 28, accused the officers of unlawful search and seizure, unlawful taking of his property and violating his constitutional rights in a 46-page complaint filed Wednesday. Ex-Torrance police officers Cody Weldin and Christopher Tomsic were charged last year with spray-painting a swastika inside of Swaine’s 2004 Hyundai Elantra after they arrested him in January 2020.

Photographs submitted as part of the lawsuit showed a large white swastika sprayed across the back seat of Swaine’s car, which was otherwise covered in a mix of white protein powder and cereal.

“My great-grandmother was Jewish and I have curly hair and a big nose, so I did feel intimidated seeing a swastika,” Swaine said in an interview. “I felt like potentially my life was being threatened, like it was like a sign that they were going to kill me.

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