A video on Twitter over the weekend shows a confrontation between a Seattle police officer and a Black Lives Matter activist, during which the officer tells the activist he is resigning from the department.
“You having a good day today?” the unidentified officer asks the activist as he pulls up in a patrol car.
“Not really, you’re around,” the activist replies.
The policeman tells the man, who was recording the video, that he’s “sorry for that” but not to “worry.”
“Because I’m leaving. You guys won,” the officer says. “Two months, baby … I’m f—ing gone, bro.”
The man holding the camera asks if he can interview the officer about his decision to leave the department, which the officer declined, asking him, “So, what? You just tired of police brutality?”
The officer rolls up the window of his police cruiser and begins to drive away, prompting the activist to shout at the officer and scream to other people nearby that “he’s going to resign because of Black Lives Matter, not because he’s tired of the police.”
“Hey, you triggered, boy? Oink, oink,” the activist chided the officer. “F— you and your blue life.”
Police officer said screw this, I’m done, congratulations to BLM I’m resigning, caught on camera ? pic.twitter.com/C2ELs75cEO
— Ray Garcia ?? (@RayGarciahawaii) August 15, 2020
Last week, the Seattle City Council voted to approve a spending plan that will cut the pay of top police officers and eliminate the navigation team and the SWAT unit, a move that will remove about $3 million from the department’s $400 million budget.
More than 100 officers are expected to have their pay reduced or positions eliminated as a result of the new spending plan.
Since the death of George Floyd in the custody of Minneapolis police officers in May, social justice advocates in Seattle have demanded the local police department be defunded by 50%.
Over the last several weeks, anti-government demonstrations and riots have taken place in the city, leading to violent clashes between police and demonstrators.
In late July, more than a dozen officers were injured by rioters as they attempted to protect a Black Lives Matter demonstration.
Police Chief Carmen Best, who asked city leaders to disavow rioters but has pledged support for Black Lives Matter, announced she would resign.
“This was a difficult decision for me, but when it’s time, it’s time,” Best said. “I look forward to seeing how this department moves forward through the process of reenvisioning public safety. I relish the work that will be done by all of you.”
