The Seattle Office of Police Accountability (OPA) has advised that two Seattle police officers should be fired for their role storming the Capitol at the January 6th insurrection and coup attempt. Those officers are Caitlin Rochelle and Alexander Everett, a married couple. Six off-duty Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers went to Washington D.C. for the January 6th insurrection, but OPA Director Andrew Myerberg found that the evidence was inconclusive that the other four had broken the law. In fact, Myerberg defended their right to attend a “political rally,” while also lamenting his lack of subpoena powers to dig further into what happened.
“There are a lot of people out there, including in city government, who would disagree,” Myerberg said, “but given the officers’ First Amendment rights, we can’t discipline the officers for being present for a political rally.” This political rally just so happens to also be a fascist coup attempt.
Earlier this year, Interim Police Chief Adrian Diaz said he would fire officers who participated in storming the Capitol, and the two officers’ direct supervisors agreed with Myerberg’s recommendation to fire the two officers. However, Diaz could still back away from his pledge or run into difficulty getting the firing to stick due to wide latitude police officers have in challenging discipline and firings.
That latitude was widened by the generous terms of the 2018 contract that Mayor Jenny Durkan negotiated with the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) and that eight of nine Seattle City Councilmembers voted to approve — Kshama Sawant was the no vote. Council President M. Lorena González and Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda have since said they regret their vote, and the MLK Labor Council has expelled SPOG from their ranks and expressed regret for their strident advocacy for the contract at the time.
“Diaz is now responsible for deciding how to discipline the officers,” Publicola‘s Paul Kiefer wrote. “The department’s Discipline Committee—including the officers’ direct supervisors and Myerberg himself—has already recommended that Diaz fire both officers, but the chief won’t make a decision until the two can plead their case during a disciplinary hearing in August. Everett and Rochelle may also face additional investigations for dishonesty.”
The remaining four officers appear to have corroborated their stories to cover for one another. The third officer listed could not prove he was elsewhere when the Capitol was stormed and refused to hand over records, but since the OPA couldn’t prove he was inside the Capitol building as it was being ransacked, Myerberg opted against charging him. Much like Mayor Durkan — who faced a scandal stemming from deleting her texts from the time period when the East Precinct was abandoned last year — the officers also just so happened to have a hard time producing their text messages covering this sensitive time period.
