SPD chief demotes commander for role in pink umbrella tear gas incident
May 26, 2021, 12:05 PM
Demonstrators face off with law enforcement personnel near SPD's East Precinct in June of 2020. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
(Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
Interim Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz issued a letter on Wednesday, detailing his decision to demote an SPD incident commander for his role in a controversial June 2020 protest on Capitol Hill.
SPD chief reverses OPA finding in pink umbrella tear gas incident
The protest became known in the months to follow as the “umbrella incident” colloquially, named for an officer who grabbed a pink umbrella from a protester standing behind a barrier between officers and the crowd, which sparked a commotion that led to blast balls and tear gas being deployed at the intersection of 11th and Pine.
In a subsequent review of the incident by the city’s Office of Police Accountability (OPA), it was determined that the officer who grabbed the umbrella had violated SPD’s crowd management policy, and that as a result, should be subject to discipline.
Chief Diaz then overruled the OPA’s finding, pointing out that command staff decisions at a higher level were ultimately what fueled the officer’s on-the-ground decision making, and that he could not in good conscience agree with the misconduct finding for an officer when their superiors were the cause of their action. Not long after that, Diaz intimated that he still intended to discipline the incident commander, despite overturning the OPA’s findings related to the officer.
Ross: Could there be an alternative to endless protests?
Diaz provided further details on that disciplinary action Wednesday, demoting the commander from assistant chief to captain.
“Fundamentally, I must have confidence that each and every member of this department’s sworn Command Staff, regardless of bureau assignment, be able to step into an incident command position as circumstances may require,” he said in a letter addressed to Mayor Jenny Durkan and city councilmembers. “This demotion is a reflection of my lack of confidence in this individual’s ability to do so.”
Diaz’s decision to not discipline the officer had previously drawn backlash from the Community Police Commission, which labeled the move as “justice denied to peaceful protesters.”
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