Olympia police unions respond to photo of officer posing with armed men
Olympia police unions have responded to the controversy surrounding an officer who posed for a photo with armed men in front of Baskin Robbins on Olympia’s west side last Friday, saying the social media post has unfairly damaged the officer’s credibility and reputation.
“The misrepresentation in this post has unfairly damaged the good name of the officer,” a statement from the Olympia Police Officers Guild reads.
The photo in question shows an OPD officer posing with armed men, many wearing fatigues and many making a hand gesture associated with the Three Percenters movement that’s also mentioned in the photo’s caption on social media. The Three Percenters gesture, according to the Anti-Defamation League, also can resemble and has been misinterpreted by some as the “okay” sign that has been adopted by some white supremacists.
According to Washington State Three Percent founder Matt Marshall, the men in the photo are local Washington Three Percenters who reportedly went to a gun store in the strip mall on Harrison Avenue after the owner asked for “armed members of the community to make a presence in his parking lot” because he had heard that area gun stores might be burglarized.
Within 24 hours of the photo of the officer circulating on social media, Chief Jelcick announced the Police Department had launched an investigation and Olympia Mayor Cheryl Selby condemned the photo on her Facebook page.
The guild wrote the statement in response to The Olympian’s article published online Saturday about the photo and subsequent reaction from Selby and Jelcick. The President of the Olympia Police Sergeants Association also emailed The Olympian, saying the association reviewed the response and supports the position of the guild as well as the officer.
Representatives from the unions declined The Olympian’s request for an interview.
“On June 5, 2020 the Olympia Police Department responded to a routine noise disturbance in west Olympia,” the guild’s statement begins. “After the call was handled, an African American male asked the officer to pose for a photo with him and the rest of the group. The citizens involved were members of a group known as ‘Washington 3%.’”
The officer wasn’t familiar with the organization and “takes no position” as to its goals, the response reads. The guild wrote that members are held to “a higher standard of conduct” that requires accountability and transparency and believe that can only be achieved when members are “extended basic fairness and due process.”
“The Olympia Police Guild does not believe in any way the officer took part in anything promoting racism/white power, and the officer was unaware of any hand gestures made while the photo was taken,” the statement reads. “This officer’s record of service with the Olympia Police Department reflects their deep commitment to fair and impartial policing and the nondiscriminatory treatment of all citizens.”
Officials with the city and the police department had not seen the statement, city spokesperson Kellie Purce Braseth said Tuesday, so did not want to comment on it. Braseth called the situation “fraught.”
“I think what’s important at this point in time is that the community know who we are,” Braseth said, saying the city and police department “serve everyone equally.”
The city is hearing from constituents who are upset and calling for the officer to be fired or put on administrative leave, Braseth said. An investigation is underway, looking into the events that led to the photo, she said. “We won’t know what happened until the investigation is complete,” she said.
“Any image that could send a message that the city does not serve all members of the community fairly, equally, and well” is troubling, Braseth said, “because it’s not who we are.”
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