2 SPD Officers Participated in Jan 6 Insurrection
Today the OPA released their findings for their investigation into the actions of 6 SPD officers who attended the “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington DC on January 6. They found that two of the six officers, Alexander Everett and Caitlin Rochell, participated in the illegal storming of the Capitol. These officers also lied about their actions during the investigation. The charges against the three officers were not sustained, and the investigation into the fourth officer’s actions was inconclusive. In addition, one officer refused to cooperate with the investigation by providing records and is now facing a new case within the OPA for insubordination.
Interim Chief Diaz said in the past that he would fire any officers who were found to have participated in the illegal insurrection. The OPA also recommended the two officers they found had participated be fired.
Meanwhile, SPOG has been pushing back against the OPA’s investigation of these officers, filing a grievance against the city and asking the OPA to destroy personal records collected as part of the investigation. Director Myerberg has said he expects the grievance to go to arbitration.
Other Seattle News
The Recall Sawant campaign has announced they’ve collected over 9,000 signatures to get the recall on the ballot. Their goal is to reach 10,739 signatures by August 1, and to have the recall on the November ballot.
The SPD police officer who used unapproved facial recognition software as part of his investigations was given a one-day suspension after the OPA ruled he had violated SPD’s professionalism policies. In the past, the same officer used a personal drone to take pictures of a suspect’s house.
Crosscut published a revealing story about the five Black campus police officers who are suing UW for $8m for the unbearable racism they’ve suffered on the job:
They report being called racial epithets, referred to as “monkeys” and having bananas left in their lockers, being told, “I thought all you guys like watermelon and Popeyes chicken.” They say they overheard white officers say that George Floyd got what he deserved, and even being hit with a stick by a white officer, who then said, “You people should be used to being hit with these.”
And The South Seattle Emerald published an op-ed by Marcus Harrison Green about healing justice that I highly recommend reading.
Recent Headlines
|
|
