Never-before-seen video of the attack on the US Capitol released Wednesday painted a dangerous scene.
As the fallout from that day plays out in Congress, here in Seattle, police and the Office of Police Accountability are investigating the conduct of several officers who were in Washington D.C. at the time of the breach of the nation's Capitol.
KING 5’s Law Enforcement Analyst Carmen Best said this is something SPD should take seriously.
“There isn't a police chief anywhere in this country that isn't concerned about any level of extremism within the organization,” Best said.
On January 8, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz announced two officers were placed on leave after social media posts showed them at the U.S. Capitol.
Weeks later, three more officers self-reported being there.
Last week, a sixth officer self-reported.
The four officers who self-reported are not on leave while their conduct is investigated
After the first two officers were put on leave, Diaz said he would fire any SPD employee who participated in the assault on the US Capitol.
Now there’s pressure from Seattle City Council to investigate on their own. Councilmember Kshama Sawant called for an “open and transparent” hearing where the public can ask questions.
“To be credible, this must be an open public hearing, with the public given the ability to ask questions of witnesses and review subpoenaed documents independently,” she stated in her request.
“The request from Councilmember Sawant, would be highly unprecedented. And it would be the first time I've ever heard of something like that ever occurring,” Best said.
Best said she agrees with transparency, but there are protocols in place.
“Transparency is incredibly important, but the process is in place has been vetted and cleared through city council and through the Office of Professional accountability and through the Department of Justice and so they need to let the process take its course,” Best said.