Seattle Police Chief Defends Officer Who Assulted Me With pepper spray
At a Martin Luther King Day protests this year I was assaulted by a Seattle police officer whopepper sprayed me in the face as I was on the phone with my mom, arranging plans for her to pick me up and take me to my son’s two-year-old birthday party. That day was deeply painful, and not only because of the burning in my ears, nostrils, and swollen eyes. What hurt the most was fear that I brought to my two sons who were deeply troubled watching me writhe in pain and pour milk on face to try to sooth the burning.
While I thought the worst of the emotional trauma was behind me, the news I received last week deeply injured me for a second time.
Here I am at my son’s two-year-old birthday party, shortly after having been pepper-sprayed by a police officer, trying to reduce the burning and swelling by pouring milk onto my face.
We finally found out that the officer who pepper sprayed me was Sandra Delafuente. An investigation by authorities sustained findings of unauthorized use of force and improper use of pepper spray against me and recommended that the officer be suspended for one day. But what really burned me is that the Chief of the Seattle Police, Kathleen O’Toole, agreed with the misconduct findings, but intervened to down grade the discipline to merely an oral reprimand.
I called a press conference to address this miscarriage of justice and was joined by City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, Councilmember Nick Licata, Black Lives Matter activist Nikkita Oliver, and Social Equality Educators board member Roberta Lindaman. Together we all made the case for real accountability for police — especially since the Seattle police department is under a federal consent decree after an investigation by the Department of Justice found officers routinely used excessive force and evidence of targeting people of color and biased policing.
After the press conference, I had the opportunity to address the Seattle City Council at a meeting they were holding to hear Chief O’Toole’s request for expanding the budget of the police department. I entered the Council Chambers and took a seat in the front row and looked to my right to see the Chief of Police sitting at the end of the row. When my name was called during the public testimony period, I didn’t want to get up. I knew those in power would not like the questions I planned to ask, and I have to admit I was scared. Breaking through the fear, I Seattle Police Chief Defends Officer Who Assulted Me With pepper spray | I AM AN EDUCATOR:
