Alleged Seattle cop killer’s outbursts punctuate opening of trial

Christopher Monfort is paralyzed from the waist down, a bullet lodged in his spine. But he’s become known for vocal outbursts in court, and the opening day of his trial for the murder of Officer Timothy Brenton was no exception.

As jail staff wheeled him to Judge Ron Kessler’s courtroom, Monfort looked squarely at TV cameras to be sure his statements were being recorded.

“American citizens have a responsibility to protect their rights and the rights of other citizens.”

Officer Timothy Brenton’s family, including his mother and widow Lisa, sat silently and showed little emotion during the first day of trial.

They heard King County’s Senior Deputy Prosecutor John Castleton lay out a case for a cold, calculating murderer. Monfort allegedly began his campaign of violence Oct. 22, 2009 by planting multiple IED pipe bombs on police vehicles in a city maintenance yard, intending to kill law enforcement.

Monfort’s calling card was an American flag and a flier outlining his manifesto: To seek retribution against cops for alleged police brutality.

The prosecution described how a week later, on Halloween night, Monfort stalked and targeted Officer Brenton and his training partner Britt Sweeney in the Leschi neighborhood of Seattle.

Sweeney was in the courtroom to hear the prosecutor describe what she saw the night her partner was killed.

“She looked over, and before she could see anything more, she saw a brilliant flash and an ear splitting sound. It was gunfire, and she knew it,” Castleton continued. “She instinctively and immediately ducked down under the dash by the radio of her car as the gunfire continued to fly into the car. Glass was flying from her side window. The noise was deafening.”

Timothy Brenton was struck by at least three bullets from the high-powered assault rifle. He died at the scene.

After a week-long manhunt, the prosecution said when police confronted Monfort at his Tukwila apartment complex, he again tried to shoot to kill officers.

The prosecutor then held his hand in a gun shape, pointed at the jury, and pulled the trigger to illustrate how Monfort unsuccessfully fired his Glock with no bullet in the chamber.

Investigators discovered an arsenal of weapons in his Tukwila apartment, including more pipe bombs and a homemade grenade rigged with washers and nails as shrapnel.

The state argues his attacks took “planning, research, construction, and hunting,” and were not the actions of an insane person.

On the other hand, defense attorney Todd Gruenhagan painted a picture of Christopher Monfort’s childhood as a kid who was bullied for being mixed race in rural Indiana. His single mom bounced him around the country. They said this instability contributed to Monfort developing mental illness later in life.

“Sometimes a mind goes haywire or gets derailed,” the defense said. “He has a diagnosis of delusional disorder,” including symptoms like grandiosity and paranoia.

They argue this delusional thought process was fed by a series of high-profile cases of police brutality. The Rodney King beating had a “profound effect” on Monfort, as did the videotape of 15-year-old Malika Calhoun being attacked by a King County deputy while in handcuffs. The latter tape was released seven months before Monfort began hunting police.

While Gruenhagan alluded briefly to the protests in Ferguson and the Eric Garner case, saying a growing number of people in this country feel there are no consequences for bad cops, Monfort spoke up. “What’s happening right now in New York?” It was one of two momentary interruptions during opening statements.

Monfort faces five felony charges including first degree aggravated murder and three counts of attempted murder. If he is to avoid the death penalty, his attorneys will have to convince the jury that his mind was indeed “profoundly untracked” when he murdered Brenton.

In court Tuesday, his attorney said that to this day, Monfort lives in his delusion, believing he is doing the right thing out of a deranged sense of service to the Constitution and the citizens of the United States.

Prosecutors said that this onetime UW honors student was clear in his decision making when he targeted Sweeney and Brenton because of the badges they wore.

As Monfort was wheeled out of court for the morning recess, he again looked at reporters, repeating “hands up, don’t shoot.”