September 15, 2023

“Auderer’s actions are far from an exception in police departments nationwide—under both Democrats & Republicans—which use excessive force with impunity, especially against the poor, those facing mental health challenges, women, and marginalized communities.”

“Despite the Seattle Police Department using deadly force more often than the combined law enforcement agencies of many countries, Seattle’s OPA has justified every fatal police shooting for over a decade, even when the victim has been unarmed.”

SEATTLE – Councilmember Kshama Sawant (District 3, Central Seattle), released the following statement in response to the video released this week of Seattle Police officer Daniel Auderer’s horrific comments in the wake of the police killing of 23-year-old Jaahnavi Kandula: 

“Seattle Police officer Daniel Auderer cackled in response to the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a young Indian exchange student, after she was run over by officer Kevin Dave’s police vehicle, saying her life “had limited value.” 

“Auderer’s callous disregard for human life shown in this video is particularly chilling, because he has a publicly funded gun with the authority to use lethal force. 

“This video came to light only because Auderer forgot to turn off his body-worn camera, and then a journalist used a legal public records request (PDR) to force Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability (OPA) to release the footage.

“According to Divest SPD, Auderer has been the subject of eighteen investigations by the Office of Public Accountability (OPA) in Seattle since 2014, including for racist harrassment, illegal arrests, and excessive use of force. According to Divest SPD, these cases together have cost the City of Seattle $1.7 million in lawsuits. 

“My office is calling for an immediate, independent, public investigation into this outrage. Auderer, who is the Vice President of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild (SPOG), a deeply reactionary organization which has fought against every measure of police accountability, should be immediately fired. Mike Solan, the President of SPOG, should also be fired from the Seattle Police Department. The OPA has failed to hold police accountable, and our city’s working people need an independently elected community oversight with full powers over the police, including hiring and firing, and policies and procedures.

“As I said in the public statement from my office on September 12th, Auderer’s actions are far from an exception in police departments nationwide—under both Democrats & Republicans—which use excessive force with impunity. This includes the Seattle Police Department, with its long and notorious track record of systematic violence against communities of color, poor people, homeless neighbors, and people facing mental illness. A Seattle Times investigation, for example, recently found SPD officers “kept a mock tombstone for a Black man killed by police in a precinct break room.” This is the same police department that was, from 2012 until recently, under a U.S. Justice Department Consent Decree. 

“Two Seattle police officers sued my Council office for calling the death of Che Taylor what it was: “brutal … and blatant murder at the hands of police.” Their case was recently dismissed by a federal judge after five years of this wasteful attack on my socialist office—on the only elected representative in Seattle who has stood unwaveringly for genuine, community-controlled police accountability.

“In reality, Seattle’s police accountability system is not designed to hold police accountable, but to give cover for their repeated egregious actions. It is designed to exhaust working people’s outrage over police abuses, by miring every complaint in months of “investigation” certain to accomplish nothing. Despite the Seattle Police Department using deadly force more often than the combined law enforcement agencies of many countries, Seattle’s OPA has justified every fatal police shooting for over a decade, even when the victim has been unarmed. 

“In 2018, Democratic Mayor Jenny Durkan and every Democrat on the City Council voted for the SPOG contract, which rolled back many of the limited police accountability reforms that had recently been passed under pressure from the first Black Lives Matter movement. I was the only No vote on the City Council. My office also organized to demand a public hearing after the police murder of Charleena Lyles.

“Socialist Alternative and my office were part of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, which organized successfully alongside thousands in the George Floyd protests and labor rank and file to expel SPOG from the MLK County Labor Council. Fighting against racism and oppression is absolutely integral to the fight for economic justice for the working class, the fight for unionized workplaces, and the fight against capitalism itself. An organization that fights for total impunity of the police to attack working and poor people has no place in the labor movement.

“The so-called Office of Professional Accountability has singularly failed to hold Seattle Police accountable, relying on Seattle Police to conduct investigations into Seattle Police misconduct. The OPA is an integral part of Seattle’s establishment, working hand in hand with Democratic politicians and SPD leadership. We need independently-elected community oversight with full powers over the police. But to win this, working people will need to organize independently of the Democratic Party.”

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Posted: September 15th, 2023 under Uncategorized