Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz terminated two of the department’s officers after a six-month investigation that concluded they were near the Capitol riots on January 6.
Diaz said in a statement on Friday the two officers crossed the outdoor barriers set by the Capitol Police and were near the Capitol building in an area that was restricted from the public.
“It is beyond absurd to suggest that they did not know they were in an area where they should not be, amidst what was already a violent, criminal riot,” he wrote. “The participation of these two officers in that crowd is a stain on our department, and on the men and women who work every day to protect our community, serve those in need, and do so with compassion and dignity. “
Diaz’s decision comes after a months-long investigation led by the Office of Police Accountability (OPA), a civilian group that operates within the department.
In July, the OPA issued a detailed report that examined the two Seattle cops’ actions that were caught on video on that day. OPA concluded the two officers violated the Seattle police department policy and Washington, D.C. law.
Alexander Everett, one of the two police officers, said he decided to go to the Capitol that day because former President Donald Trump “asked people to be there,” the OPA report read. He said Trump specifically requested that people “walk up and be peaceful.”
He added he was there to exercise his First Amendment rights and said the investigation was discriminatory toward him for his political views.
The second cop, Caitlin Everett said she saw nothing indicating she was in an area that was off limits, according to the report, and she didn’t see anyone dressed in a way that would suggest their readiness to commit criminal acts.
“That they [the two cops] were direct witnesses to people defiling the seat of American democracy and assaulting fellow law enforcement officers—and did nothing—makes this all the more egregious,” OPA Director Andrew Myerberg said in a press statement following the investigation release.
In July, four police officers testified before a House of Representatives commission about their experiences battling the Capitol rioters on January 6. The insurrectionists assaulted approximately 140 officers that day—about 80 from the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the District of Columbia’s Metropolitan Police Department—according to the U.S. Justice Department. Five of those officers later died, with four taking their own lives.
Aquilino Gonell, a U.S. Capitol Police officer who testified at the congressional hearing, recalled thinking, “This is how I am going to die.” Harry Dunn, another officer with the Capitol Police, spoke about hearing rioters use racial slurs against him. “Those words are weapons,” he said. “It just hurts that we have people in this country that result to that.”
Newsweek contacted the Seattle Police Department and the Office of Police Accountability, but they had no further comments.
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