For two Virginia police officers who took a photo during the deadly U.S. Capitol insurgency, the calculation has been quick and public: they were identified, charged with crimes and arrested.
But for five Seattle officers the result is less clear. Their identities are still secret, two are on leave and three are still working while a police vigilante investigates whether his actions in the nation’s capital on Jan. 6 crossed the line from a protected political speech to an offense of the law.
The contrasting cases highlight the dilemma facing police departments across the country as they review the behavior of dozens of officers who were in Washington on the day of the riot by supporters of President Donald Trump. Officials and experts agree that officers who were involved in the melee should be fired and charged for their role.
But what about the officers who only attended Trump’s rally before the riot? How does a department balance an officer’s free speech rights with the public confidence blow that comes from law enforcement attendance at an event with far-right militants and white nationalists? which attacked the seat of American democracy?
An Associated Press survey of police agencies across the country found that at least 31 officers from 12 states are being scrutinized by their supervisors for their behavior in the District of Columbia or facing criminal charges for participating in the riot. Officials are studying whether officers violated any law or policy or participated in the violence while in Washington. A Capitol police officer was killed after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher as riot police stormed the building and many other officers were injured. One woman was shot dead by Capitol police and three more people died after medical emergencies during the chaos.
Most officers have not been publicly identified; only a few have been charged. Some were identified by online details. Others were reported by colleagues or surrendered.
They come from some of the largest cities in the country (e.g., three Los Angeles officers and a deputy sheriff), as well as state agencies and a Pennsylvania police department with nine officers. Among them are an Oklahoma sheriff and a New Hampshire police chief who have admitted to being at the rally but denied entry to the Capitol or broken the law.
“If they were off duty, it’s totally free of speech,” said Will Aitchison, a Portland, Oregon attorney who represents police officers. “People have the right to express their political views regardless of who is on their side. You just don’t get the blame for the association. “
But Ayesha Bell Hardaway, a law professor at Western Western University, said the presence of an officer at the rally creates a credibility issue as law enforcement agencies work to repair the community’s trust, especially after last summer’s protests against police brutality sparked by the police killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.
Communities will question the integrity of the officers who attended the rally along with “individuals who proudly profess racist and divisive views,” he said. “It is questionable whether these officers are interested in policing in a way that builds trust and legitimacy in all communities, including communities of color.”
In Rocky Mount, a city in Virginia of about 1,000 people, Sergeant. Thomas Robertson and Officer Jacob Fracker were suspended without pay and face criminal charges after a photo was posted inside the Capitol during the riot. According to court records, Robertson wrote on social media that “the left is crazy because we really attacked the government which is the problem … The right IN ONE DAY took the f (asterisk) (asterisk) (asterisk) ( asterisk) the United States Capitol. It continues to puncture us. “
Attempts to contact the couple failed and the criminal record does not include lawyers. Rocky Mount leaders declined to be interviewed. In a statement, they said the events at the Capitol were tragic.
“We stand by and add our support to those who have denounced the violence and illegal activity that took place that day,” said Police Chief Ken Criner, Captain Mark Lovern and City Manager James Ervin . “Our city and our police department accept absolutely no illegal or unethical behavior on the part of anyone, including our officers and staff.”
Across the country, five Seattle officers are being investigated by the city’s Police Responsibility Office. Two officers posted photos of themselves on social media while they were in the district and officials are investigating to determine where they were and what they were doing. Three others told supervisors they went to Washington for the facts and are being investigated for what they did there.
Seattle police chief Adrian Diaz said his department supports officers’ freedom of expression and that those in the country’s capital will be fired if “they were directly involved in the insurgency at the U.S. Capitol. “.
But police leaders need to assess more than clear criminal behavior, according to Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Police Executive Investigation Forum, a police research and policy group. They must also consider how their actions affect the credibility of a department, he said.
The rights of officers’ first amendment “do not extend to words that may be violent or perhaps express some prejudice,” Wexler said, “because that will reflect what they do when they are working, when they are testifying in court.”
During the summer and fall, Seattle police, along with officers elsewhere, were criticized for their treatment of mass protests against police brutality after the death of George Floyd. The city received more than 19,000 complaints against officers, most for excessive use of force and misuse of pepper spray.
Andrew Myerberg, director of the Seattle Office of Police Responsibility, said none of the officers now under investigation were involved in such cases.
But Sakara Remmu, co-founder of Black Lives Matter Seattle / King County, said officers should be fired independently. His public statements of solidarity with Trump encourage not only the distrust of the community, but the terror of the entire department, he said.
“It is absolutely important when the decoration of the cracks of racial peace and racial hatred occurs, because we already have a documented history and a legacy of what this means in this country,” Remmu said.
In Houston, the police chief reported an officer who resigned and was later charged with rioting. An attorney for Officer Tam Pham said the 18-year-old force veteran “deeply regrets” being at the rally and that he was “deeply sorry.”
But many chiefs have said their officers did not commit any crime.
“Arkansas state police respect the rights and freedom of an employee to use their time off as they choose,” department spokesman Bill Sadler said of two officers who went attending the Trump rally.
Malik Aziz, the former president and executive director of the National Black Police Association, compared the conviction of all officers in Washington to that of all protesters who took to the streets after the assassination of George Floyd with the violent and destructive acts of some.
Aziz, head of the Dallas police department, said police acting in private have the same rights as other Americans, but that consciously going to a fanatical event should be disqualifying for an officer.
“There is no place in law enforcement for this individual,” Aziz said.