Investigation launched after Seattle police kept in break room mock tombstone of Black man they killed

The Seattle Police Division has come underneath scrutiny as soon as once more after a 2021 physique cam video of a precinct break room confirmed officers had saved a mock tombstone of a younger Black man they killed in 2017.

In line with the Seattle Instances, the footage in query was obtained by a lawyer within the wake of a lawsuit difficult town’s graffiti legal guidelines. The lawyer, Braden Pence, gained entry to the video through the civil discovery course of in U.S. District Court docket. And although Pence mentioned that portion of the video had nothing to do with the lawsuit, he mentioned he determined to make it public “as a result of the individuals of Seattle have the correct to know their police division.”

Within the video that was captured within the East Precinct’s bicycle restore room, an officer is seen passing by a mock tombstone with Damarius Butts’s title, age, and the day that he died inscribed on it. Butts, then 19, was killed after exchanging hearth with Seattle cops following a theft at a comfort retailer. The teenager was mentioned to have brandished a handgun and demanded beer in the course of the alleged theft. After fleeing the scene, officers pursued him earlier than the gun battle ensued. Butts died after he was struck 11 instances whereas three different officers sustained accidents.

Butts’ household informed KIRO 7 the video exhibiting the deceased teen’s mock tombstone exacerbated their ache. “No, I’ve by no means seen that video,” an emotional Stephanie Butts mentioned after seeing the video for the primary time. “Like, you continue to gotta have a coronary heart. You do. You gotta have a coronary heart regardless. (I) simply don’t know what to say about that.”

Apart from the mock tombstone, a Donald Trump 2020 poster and a Black Lives Matter signal alongside what seems like a purple hat are additionally seen within the footage. Per the Seattle Instances, the show of the Trump flag possible violates state regulation and division coverage surrounding the participation of officers in partisan politics whereas on the job.

And following allegations of Seattle police being biased and utilizing extreme pressure, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell petitioned a federal court docket decide to finish the 2012 SPD consent decree, KIRO 7 reported. “That erodes belief,” Harrell mentioned. “Once we’re making an attempt to construct belief with our Police Division and the neighborhood.”

Harrell additionally mentioned he’ll “help an investigation to grasp what occurred, who knew about it, who ought to have identified about it?” However plainly received’t do something to ease Stephanie Butts’ ache.

“I didn’t suppose officers would do one thing like this, the Seattle Police would do one thing like this,” she mentioned. “It’s actually stunning to me truly. It’s.”

The division, nevertheless, mentioned the East Precinct was the principle level for the Black Lives Matter protests that ensued within the wake of George Floyd’s Could 2020 killing, the Seattle Instances reported.

“Protesters usually positioned gadgets comparable to these commemorating topics of using pressure regionally and nationwide across the precinct,” the division mentioned. “It might not be sudden that gadgets left on the precinct may land on a storage shelf till disposition.”

Former King County public defender, La Rond Baker, mentioned authorities in all probability took the tombstone from a Black Lives Matter memorial for individuals who had died by the hands of police.

The division mentioned the mock tombstone is “not there.” “I can’t specific how hurtful it was to be taught that SPD endorsed joking concerning the killing of my son by displaying a faux tombstone along with his title on it,” Butts’ mom, Ann Butts, mentioned in a press release by way of Baker.

Following the discharge of the video, the Seattle Neighborhood Police Fee requested Police Chief Adrian Diaz to publicly shed some mild on the incident. Diaz may even be current on the fee’s assembly subsequent week to reply questions, the fee mentioned.