A Seattle Police sergeant was placed on leave and is under investigation after a video appeared to show him driving toward protesters standing on a sidewalk and comparing them "cockroaches."
The Seattle Police Department announced Tuesday that the incident was sent to the Office of Police Accountability which will investigate. The sergeant was placed on paid leave.
The video of an Aug. 13 protest showed an SUV that appears to be driving toward people gathered on a sidewalk. The driver later claims to be a police officer who was trying to catch a specific person.
People scatter as the SUV speeds through an intersection, and then the person filming addresses the driver after a cut in the footage.
“I saw it,” the person filming said.
“No you didn’t,” the driver said.
“What’d I see?"
“I don’t know, what did you see?”
“I saw you almost hit a bunch of people.”
A few moments later, the voice behind the camera asks the driver a question.
“Are the one who called them a bunch of cockroaches?”
“Yes, yes,” the driver responds.
The Seattle Police Department urged anyone with information regarding this incident is urged to contact OPA at (206) 684-8797.