‘Mexican Piss’ statement not racially motivated, city says

The video of a Seattle Police officer appearing to stomp on a robbery suspect and yelling a racial slur led to the Department of Justice investigation of the department, but the city now says the suspect wasn’t kicked and the language wasn’t racially motivated.

The city says Officer Shandy Cobane was using a verbal deescalation technique and not racial discrimination when he told a robbery suspect that he was going to “beat the Mexican piss” out of him.

In its response to a federal lawsuit brought by the man Officer Cobane was detaining, the city says the language was unprofessional but not meant to offend. It was used to control an unruly suspect.

The Seattle Times reports a frame by frame analysis of the video shows Officer Cobane didn’t kick the suspect either. He was trying to step on his hand.

The suspect, Martin Monetti Jr., is claiming civil rights violations and discrimination.

The city of Seattle is asking a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit stemming from the incident. The motion was filed Tuesday.

City attorneys also say that even though Monetti was not arrested that night, they think he was complicit in two robberies.

Monetti’s attorney, Lorena Gonzalez, says she’s confident her lawsuit will not be dismissed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.