By Hannah Saunders

Earlier this month the Office of Inspector General (OIG) held a sentinel event review (SER) with six Seattle police representatives and six community representatives to pinpoint factors that led to police violence and use of force during the May 24 Christian fascist “Haircuts for Kids” event in Cal Anderson Park. Seattle police pointed fingers at the Parks Department for permitting the event in the historically LGBTQIA+ park, and that a meetup of “Antifa” – which SPD officers claimed are violent – led to such a strong response. 

A source sat in on the SER, and told TtS that officers involved in the review are Sean Moore; Lisa Judge; Chris Coett; Yvonne Underwood; Richard Bonesteel; Mathew Didier; and Larry Longely. On the first day of the SER, the group talked about implicit bias and how that plays into how people act and respond to situations. 

“They didn’t go over when they use what force and how POET [Police Outreach Engagement Team] interacts during these times,” the source told TtS. “The people who were there were the POET heads, the new leader of CRG [Community Response Group], deputy police chief, as well as a couple of people from the Lavender Rights Project and one person… who was on the ground when it happened.” 

On the second discussion day, the group conversed about the permitting process, and SPD claimed they didn’t know of the event until the Tuesday prior, or May 20. When reviewing the parks permit, the Christian fascists said they did not need police presence as it was a First Amendment event. The source told TtS that SPD blamed Seattle Parks and Rec for approving the permit without conducting research, although the department refers events to whatever parks are open due to First Amendment rights. 

The source said there was quite a bit of discussion on what Antifa means – antifascists – and how people dressed in black bloc are not there to commit crimes.

“When going over a slide of information about the lead up to the event, [SPD] said they knew about an ‘Antifa meetup’,” the source told TtS. “When asked what Antifa was, they said people in clad black who are there to break the law and instigate and use protests as cover.”

“Officers talked about how they envision Antifa as someone who is going to throw stuff at them, and they have a hard time separating bloc from people who actively throw stuff at cops,” the source said. 

On the third day of meetings, the SER reviewed video footage, including Longely interacting with May Day USA people and protesters in the crowd. The source said Longely interacted well with the Christian fascists, but yelled at mayoral candidate Joe Malloy and another person with water balloons. 

A second video showed a group of black bloc being followed, as they were near the May Day USA stage. 

“They get yelled at for untying balloons, and then they arrest them for property destruction. Bloc runs into the crowd and a bunch of officers run their bikes full speed into a massive crowd and start grabbing folks from behind— literally just start grabbing and tackling them,” the source said. 

During this incident, another group of police officers began chasing one person towards the crowd, who broke a bubble machine. According to the source, officers admitted they went in “guns blazing” to arrest two people that ended up brutalizing many Seattle residents, and that officers began grabbing and throwing anybody in black bloc on the ground – even though they weren’t in the same group. 

Two quotes from Didier were flagged, including one that had the same effect of “we are going to beat people up,” the source said. In a third video the group reviewed, SPD was grabbing and throwing people over the barricade, and pepper spraying people who were on the ground injured. 

The justification for these acts of extreme violence and force were that cops cannot allow people to commit crimes, no matter how minor, according to the source, and that if cops allow people to escalate and don’t get arrested aggressively, it shows protesters that they can do whatever they want. The source also said officers brought up the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, and how they had to sit idly by as alleged crimes occurred, and that this was essentially payback for 2020. 

Recommendations to improve Seattle policing are yet to be discussed, but should occur sometimes in November or December.

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