Seattle Police Officer Fired Over Instagram Posts

SEATTLE, WA — A Seattle police officer was fired after the city's police oversight office determined his Instagram posts violated department policy, according to a case summary published Wednesday. The Office of Police Accountability received an anonymous complaint in November 2018, flagging several posts that used "extremely profane language" and "attack[ed] certain groups of people...[and] people's political views."

NEW: Seattle Police Identify Officer Fired For Instagram Rants

The officer is not identified in the watchdog report, apart from his Instagram handle "officerdg." That account is now set to private.

In one post reviewed by the OPA, investigators said a photo showing a "mail package bomb" contained a caption referencing former President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

"I don’t condone sending package bombs but god it would be nice for Killary and Anti cop Obama to finally STFU," the post begins.

Investigators said another post showed the officer giving a middle finger gesture. Its caption contained profanity and criticized support for undocumented immigrants.

"If you support illegal immigrants coming into our country so much then make a difference and bring them into your home and YOU support them you [expletive]," the second post said.

Both posts ended with hashtags popular among supporters of President Donald Trump.

The woman who filed the complaint told investigators the posts were "not becoming of a Seattle PD officer," and raised concerns that including the hashtags raised the likelihood his posts would be seen by a higher number of people, beyond those who followed the officer's account.

In an interview with the officer, the OPA said he acknowledged the account belonged to him and admitted to creating the posts in question. The officer told interviewers he was criticizing illegal immigration as a practice, and not referring to specific undocumented people. According to the OPA, the officer admitted the postings were unprofessional and could negatively impact the department.

Of the three allegations considered, OPA Director Andrew Myerberg concluded the officer did violate department policies on social media and professionalism but did not necessarily engage in biased policing.

"Certainly, an officer can have and express strong feelings concerning the immigration debate that is raging in this county without acting contrary to policy or engaging in bias. Moreover, it is not and cannot be a policy violation for an officer to hold political views that may be out of line with those possessed by the majority of the community members and political figures in the City where that officer serves.

However, based on the tenor of and vitriol contained in [the officer]'s postings, OPA questions whether [the officer] is so averse to 'illegal immigration' that he would be unable to provide law enforcement services equitably and completely to an undocumented individual. If so, this would constitute different treatment of a person based on personal characteristics and would be contrary to SPD’s bias policing policy.

Ultimately, OPA does not believe that it can prove that [the officer] engaged in biased policing when applying the requisite burden of proof.

Myerberg said the posts broke SPD social media policies, which explicitly forbid officers from participating in any posting that "ridicules, maligns, disparages, expresses bias, or disrespect toward any race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, or any other protected class of individuals."

"This is due to the fact that he appeared to endorse violence against political figures in one posting and, in the other, engaged in a profanity laced critique both of 'illegal immigration' and of those individuals who may support a different political position on this issue than he holds," Myerberg wrote.

The OPA recommended the officer receive additional training related to the allegation of biased policing and sustained findings of misconduct related to the other two policy violations. Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, who ultimately decides what disciplinary measures are taken, determined his actions constituted a fireable offense.

The date of the officer's firing was not immediately available. A spokesman for the Seattle Police Department said more information would be available by Friday.

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