On Sunday, July 5, 2020, the King County Sheriff’s Office – which polices the White Center/North Highline unicorporated areas – was made aware of some concerning posts made by one of its deputies on Facebook.
The offensive post(s) in question appear to make light of the recent fatal killing of a protester on I-5 in Seattle.
“We took immediate action and forwarded the matter to our Internal Investigations Unit,” the agency said on Monday, July 6.
On Monday morning, Sheriff Mitzi G. Johanknecht ordered that the internal investigation be expedited. The employee was immediately placed on administrative leave and all his police powers have been suspended.
Other Sheriff’s Office employees who may have participated via reactions or comments on the posts will also be investigated, the department said..
Sheriff Mitzi G. Johanknecht said:
“We value all members of our community and are committed to serving everyone equally, with dignity and respect. I will take swift action to thoroughly investigate when the conduct of Sheriff’s Office members fails to reflect our core values and violates Sheriff’s Office policy.”
The Facebook post in question was referenced in numerous posts:
was the officer posting on his private facebook? Does he have first amendment rights? What about the tax dollars we spend on infrastructure that is overtaken by rioters that imbeds our right of way? People, get a grip!
He’s also a public servant who is making blatantly racist comments. Beyond inappropriate. He’s not someone who should be policing. He’s also the cousin of our governor, and is a supreme embarrassment to him and to our state in general. Fire the asshat.
Could you please explain what was racist about his comments . He is white and the two women are white . Where you talking about when he mention the 19 year old that was shot and killed in chop . That was black on black crime also don’t forget about the chop security guard yelling oh your not dead yet then your hear pop pop pop or the raz guy handing out ar-15’s assault rifles to anyone .
Did also know the two women were hit by a black man that may have been on meth and other drugs . While these two white women where supporting black lives matter .
Racist police officers need to get the hell of the business of “Protect and Serve”.