SEATTLE, WA – In a viral video a Seattle Officer tells a protester that he’s quitting. This comes after two months of being on the force dealing with the constant BLM protests in the city.
This comes just days after Seattle’s Chief of Police, Carmen Best, resigned after a huge budget cut.
Police officer said screw this, I’m done, congratulations to BLM I’m resigning, caught on camera 😬 pic.twitter.com/C2ELs75cEO
— Ray Garcia 🇺🇸 (@RayGarciahawaii) August 15, 2020
The video shows an unnamed police officer slowing down next to a protester, rolling down his window and asking:
“How’s your day going today bud?”
The two men continue to exchange false pleasantries. The man recording says he’s having a bad day because the officer is there.
When asked by the camera man how he feels about resigning, the officer says:
“I’m feeling great. I’m stepping down from this department. You guys won.”
The officer is asked if he is stepping down because of police brutality, to which the officer says he isn’t. He says that he’s handing in his badge because he’s tired of dealing with Black Lives Matter protesters.
Their dialogue is interrupted when the officer becomes distracted by a heated exchange of words with another protester out of frame.
The officer blares his horn and speeds forward in his vehicle, before coming to an abrupt stop and leaning out of his door, having a conversation with some people off camera.
The protester filming the video yells:
“This guy is resigning because of Black Lives Matter! Not because of the police!”
The officers returns to his vehicle and speaks to the man filming once more, who says:
“You triggered boy? You triggered?”
The man also says to the cop:
“Oink, oink. Fuck you and your blue life.”
The officer responds that he can’t wait to finally be friends with him, once he quits Seattle PD.
The protester angrily insists:
“We’ll never be friends. We will never see eye-to-eye. I don’t care if you take that badge off, you’ll never be one of my people.”
This comes at the heels of the city’s first black police Chief, Carmen Best, announcement that she would be stepping down after the city council approved to defund the department and cut 100 cops from the force, which reported last week.
The Council gave us $1.6 million to hire the best, brightest and most diverse. Now they want me to layoff 100 of those officers. I can’t do that. pic.twitter.com/De85kvQlZd
— Chief Carmen Best (@carmenbest) August 11, 2020
Best has served the department for 28 years. She will step down on September 2, 2020.
Seattle has been dealing with protests, vandalism and clashes with police occurring daily in the city ever since the Memorial Day police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
I know the SPD is in good hands with Interim Chief Adrian Diaz. pic.twitter.com/80J5SfWUM9
— Chief Carmen Best (@carmenbest) August 11, 2020
Mayor Jenny Durkan has appointed deputy chief Adrian Diaz to serve as interim police chief.
“I know we need to rebuild the trust with many of you. We hear you.” soon-to-be Interim Chief Adrian Diaz pic.twitter.com/Ck6Xz0kIUm
— Chief Carmen Best (@carmenbest) August 11, 2020
Seattle currently has about 1,400 police officers.
Measures that would cut less than $4 million of the department’s $400 million annual budget this year passed out of committee unanimously last week.
Durkan and Best urged the council to slow down its discussions about police budgets, saying the issue could be taken up in earnest when the 2021 city budget is considered.
2. These reforms to the SPD budget are a blueprint for future conversations. This week’s final vote is one of many pivotal votes necessary for police reform. I look forward to working with my colleagues for the 2021 budget in the Fall.
Today’s agenda: https://t.co/bsAwi7w6mR— Councilmember Debora Juarez (@D5Juarez) August 10, 2020
They also said any layoffs would disproportionately target newer officers, who were sought out specifically from black and brown communities, and would inevitably lead to lawsuits.
The request fell on deaf ears.
Meanwhile, riots continue off and on in Seattle, where officers are continuously injured. Here’s Law Enforcement Today’s most recent report on that.
In Seattle’s South of Downtown area, typically referred to as SoDo, a protest that morphed into a riot on the evening of August 16th, resulted in 18 people being arrested and three officers being injured by rioters.
An anti-police union protest in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood was declared a riot Sunday night after demonstrators threw explosives and bottles at police officers and tried to break windows on a police cruiser. https://t.co/rFXLT45RR9
— WNDU (@WNDU) August 17, 2020
A protest, and then subsequent riot, was staged against the police union in Seattle on August 16th. Considering that anti-police sentiments tend to focus a strong stance against the existence of police unions, it’s with little surprise that agitators resorted to violent acts against police tasked with maintaining order.
According to the press release from Seattle’s Public Affairs office, the following was noted about the onset of the demonstration that turned violent:
“The anti-police union march began in the International District around 7:00 PM. There were approximately 100 individuals accompanied by vehicles following behind. The group moved toward the Seattle Police Officer Guild building in the 2900 block of 4th Avenue South.”
In just under three hours after the protest and march started, that’s when explosives were set off by the rioters, and a police vehicle was damaged. After such acts were committed, police on the site of the protest issued orders for the crowd to disband:
“The incident commander issued an order to disperse to the crowd at that time. Individuals in the crowd began throwing rocks and bottles at officers. Multiple explosives were thrown toward officers. Officers moved the crowd northbound on 4th Avenue South. Several officers were struck by explosives and injured.”
[embedded content]Upon the occurrence of officer injuries, additional units were dispatched to 4 Avenue South. Injured officers were treated on site by the Seattle Fire Department, and the riot was officially declared.
After the protest was declared as such, police were said to have used blast balls and OC spray to cease the assaults taking place against police. Officials say that the crowd eventually dispersed after the employment of riot-control techniques.
All of the arrested parties were subsequently booked into the King County Jail, whereas one of the three officers injured required hospitalization.
Photos released by the Public Affairs office showcased one officer having suffered a bruise and burn from one explosive thrown at his face, and a female officer suffering a burn to the back of her neck from an explosive.
Injury to eye after explosive was thrown toward officer – Seattle Public Affairs office 
Burn injury to neck after explosive was thrown toward officer – Seattle Public Affairs office
Officials are still investigating events that took place during the riot.
Weapons by rioters being used at these “protests” have been an ongoing problem in Seattle. We at Law Enforcement Today reported on a bevy of weapons discovered by police in Seattle following one of the many riots the city has endured.
The city of Seattle recently played host to a riot on July 25th, and now police are looking into some of the items recovered from said riot during the course of the investigation into crimes committed during the chaos.
Image of large fireworks modified to function as large explosive, retrieved from van in Seattle riot – Seattle Police press release video screen shot
Chief Carmen Best from the Seattle Police Department was joined alongside Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan on July 29th to announce the investigation into some of the items used by rioters on July 25th.
Apparently, these items came from a van that was driven to the East Precinct on July 25th, and seemingly abandoned.
Bear mace seized from van – Seattle Police
The contents inside were described as fireworks, bear mace, improvised spike strips, body armor, homemade shields and other items.
It just so happens that after that van was dropped off at around 4:25 p.m. out front of the precinct on July 25th, that was around the same time fireworks and other explosives were levied at the police precinct. One explosive was said to have caused a hole in the northside wall of the precinct.
Gas masks recovered from van – Seattle Police
Police made the discovery of the contents of the van after securing a warrant to search the abandoned vehicle, after investigators suspected that the positioning of the van and the fact it was abandoned made police believe that there were incendiary devices inside.
Obviously, that was case – along with weapons, shields, and a means to disable tires on vehicles.
Baton seized from van – Seattle Police
Mayor Durkan, who once coined the antics of these kinds of rioters in June as engaging in the “summer of love”, has certainly changed her tune on these folks:
“Our police department has an obligation to disperse a crowd when dangers to public safety like explosives, fires, individuals intent on causing harm.”
Tazer and OC Spray recovered from van – Seattle Police
After the contents retrieved from the van, Mayor Durkan is finally starting to realize that this isn’t the “summer of love”, but rather violence stemming from malefactors:
“I think what we saw in our city last week in 3 separate protests that there were individuals who were intent on causing harm. And the items seized from this van show exactly what they were planning, saw the results on our street.”
[embedded content]Officials are still investigating all the incidents that took place from the riot on July 25th.
The Seattle Police Department is asking that anyone who may have additional information about the riot to contact Seattle Police Violent Crimes tip-line at (206) 233-5000.
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