SPD once again eyes termination of parking officer who referenced lynching of BLM protestors

Jonathan Skeie, a Seattle Parking Enforcement Officer who admitted in court to saying “I don’t know why we can’t just bring back lynching” in reference to Black Lives Matter protestors, is once again at odds with the Seattle Police Department and the City of Seattle.

In January of 2022, Skeie was reinstated through arbitration after his termination from SPD at the behest of interim Chief Adrian Diaz.

The arbiter decided termination was too harsh a penalty, instead electing to serve Skeie with a 30-day suspension.

In response, SPD has appealed the arbiter’s decision, issuing a petition with King County Superior Court that the decision be reviewed.

“The Court should vacate an arbitrator’s interpretation of a collective bargaining agreement if it violates public policy … Such a reversal is particularly appropriate when the arbitrator’s decision is contrary to the well-defined, dominant policy reflected in a statute … As set forth below, the Court should review and vacate the award because it is contrary to … public policy,” the writ reads.

At the time of the incident, Skeie was a civilian within the SPD’s Parking Enforcement Unit. Skeie was reinstated in April, working under the Seattle Department of Transportation’s (SDOT) parking enforcement after those responsibilities were transferred from SPD to SDOT.

City of Seattle to dismiss and refund approximately 200,000 parking tickets

Skeie does not dispute making the lynching comment within the context of discussing a documentary detailing the mass incarceration of African Americans, The 13th, with a coworker. He later admitted that he was upset about BLM protestors.

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