Seattle cop posts video urging officers not to enforce 'tyrannical' stay-at-home orders, taken off duty
A Port of Seattle cop has been placed on leave in light of a viral video where he was seen telling fellow officers that they should not be enforcing coronavirus orders.
As per a Seattle spokesman, officer Greg Anderson has been placed on paid while an investigation is ongoing. Anderson had shared a video on May 7 which featured him sitting in a patrol car. He said that arresting people in relation to social distancing orders was a violation of people's constitutional rights.
In the video, he says, "I’ve seen officers nationwide enforcing tyrannical orders against the people. I want to remind you that regardless of where you stand on the coronavirus, we don’t have the authority to do those things to people just because a mayor or a governor tells you otherwise."
"We don’t get to violate people’s Constitutional rights because somebody in our chain of command tells us otherwise. It's not how this country works," he said during the eight-minute-long video, The Seattle Times reports.
He shared that he was very disturbed at what he called "tyrannical" social distancing orders and at how people were considered violating the law by "going to church, for traveling on the roadways, for going surfing, opening their businesses, going to the park with their families or doing nails out of their own house using their own house as a place of business."
"If you’re part of a department or agency that is asking people or asking their officers or their deputies to impose on people’s rights and infringe on their freedoms, you need to step up and say no. If that costs you your job, so be it," he revealed.
He had further added that he feels like his chain of command "shares my view". He says at first his superiors had supported the video but as the video started going viral, they ordered him to take it down. When he refused to do so, he was placed on administrative leave.
He then uploaded a second video where he explained what had happened. It seems evident from the video, that Anderson expects that he will lose his job. Two GoFundMe pages have been set up to support him and have managed to raise around $300,000, KIRO 7 reports.
Anderson took to Instagram to share, "I’ve received tons of questions regarding my termination from the Port of Seattle Police. So I figured I should explain. I have been placed on administrative leave (still being paid) pending investigation. I was told by both the agency and my union that this will result in termination due to it being an insubordination charge for refusing to take down the video. I’m not sure what the timeline looks like."
Social media users have been left divided over the video with some applauding him and others calling him out. Some of the comments include, "This guy sounds like a rogue officer and he should be investigated. What a disgrace to good cops," one user wrote.
In response to this, another chimed in, "You can’t be serious??! A disgrace to “good” cops!! HE is a “good” cop, not the other assclowns enforcing tyrannical laws! His message was spot on, although he may just be a pawn to set an example to what happens if you stray!"
Another user wrote, "Good. Don't want police deciding which laws to enforce or not. They don't want to enforce laws, quit." A supportive user shared, "Wtf...the police are the same shit over the world. Respect to Greg #PoliceBrutality #PoliceState."