Seattle police and lawyers stories differ on injured Capitol Hill protester

Seattle police say the unknown medical condition that hospitalized a protester during an arrest Wednesday night may have been the result of something they ingested before their run-in with law enforcement.

It happened after 10 p.m., after several larger demonstrations had wrapped up and a small group of people who have protested for months showed up near the East Precinct with graffiti, according to police. More than a half a dozen protesters were arrested for obstruction, assault, property damage and other crimes police say they committed.

During one of the arrests, a person suffered an unknown medical condition and went to the ground. Video showed police surrounding the person and demonstrators trying to film and check on them as they stood near surrounding sidewalks screaming at the police for more than 15 minutes to get an ambulance.

Later Wednesday, attorney Karen Koehler announced the hospitalized protester was Kel Murphy-Duford, a current client, and one of dozens of protesters suing the city over violations of their rights during protest responses due to injuries they suffered in a July 25 protest on Capitol Hill.

Speaking to Omari Salisbury at Converge Media, Koehler relayed what witnesses of the latest incident described to her.

“When they got around to the East Precinct last night, the protest buddy says that both of them were basically jumped and as he was going down, Kel was going down separately. A different protester witness who saw the whole thing happen, saw the officer knocking Kel to the ground with extreme force and heard the crack as it had hit the pavement at that time Kel went limp and face down and stopped moving, never moved again,” Koehler told Salisbury.

“As Kel was not moving, Kel was jumped on by five more officers who are believed to be bicycle officers. At that point, the protesters around started yelling, and just as we saw with George Floyd, the police kept the protesters at bay, did not allow protesters to assist, including medic protesters. They shined their lights to keep the protesters from being able to get good footage and kept them away,” she continued, adding that her client lay unconscious for 15 minutes without any officers rendering aid. She also said it took the fire department 15 minutes to arrive.

Office of Police Accountability Director Andrew Myerberg said he got a call about the incident around midnight, and that the Force Investigations team had been deployed to the hospital to find out more about the hospitalized protester’s condition. He also went to OPA offices and started to review video from the incident on social media and from police body cameras.

“What we can tell from that video is that when the protester is taken down to the ground, first the protester has a helmet on — there’s no indication that the protester’s head makes contact with the pavement, let alone a crack. We don’t hear that on the video, at least I don’t hear that in the video, and for about almost 30 seconds after the takedown, the individual is moving around and resisting officers when they’re trying to handcuff him,” Myerberg said.

He said that does not necessarily mean officers acted within policy.

“I want to be super clear for people. I’m not saying that it was inside or outside policy right now — what I’m saying is that I’m not seeing any evidence of clear misconduct that would warrant OPA opening an investigation. It is very possible that people could offer more evidence, that witnesses who come forward with different perspectives; we want to see and hear all that information. So there is no decision made at this point. The only decision that I’ve made is to not initiate it [an investigation] on my own but to wait for a complaint to come in,” Myerberg added.

The OPA does not open investigations on its own without clear evidence of misconduct, but will if complaints are filed, as is expected in this case.

The SPD issued an update Wednesday, including officer body camera footage of the actual arrest, asserting that the protester’s unknown medical condition was potentially the result of something they ingested earlier.

The department’s statement reads as follows:

SPD Force Investigators have learned the subject’s medical episode was potentially related to a substance the subject had ingested prior to police contact. The subject was treated at the scene by a Seattle Police EMT, and was then treated by Seattle Fire Department medics prior to being transported to the hospital.

The subject did not sustain any physical injuries during the arrest, but continues to receive treatment at a local hospital.

SPD’s Force Investigation Team continues to investigate the incident, and the department will release body worn video of the arrest according to department policy.

Within minutes of that statement from Seattle Police, Koehler responded with her own statement:

We are outraged at the libelous entry on the SPD blog related to Kel Murphy-Duford. Insinuating that he is responsible for the life threatening injuries suffered at the hands of the police yesterday. This latest unsupportable blog entry is designed to turn public attention away from police misconduct and towards a victim who currently is unable to speak or stand up for himself. Kel’s husband has provided this photo so that people can see what really is going on.

Not that it is anyone’s business. But Kel has diabetes and takes insulin.

The outrageousness of the SPD’s blog entry is magnified by the absolute fact that – SPD has not received any information from Harborview physicians regarding Kel’s current condition due to HIPAA. Since Kel is currently intubated and unconscious he has certainly not given his doctors permission to speak to SPD. Nor has his husband.

The SPD Force Investigators have therefore learned nothing about the causation of Kel’s condition that is worth reporting at this time.

We suggest that the SPD stop trying to shift blame. And stop defaming Kel.

Koehler filed a tort claim against the city of Seattle on Wednesday over both incidents involving Kel.

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