SEATTLE - "I will beat the F***ing Mexican P*** out of you, homey. Do you feel me?" Those were the words heard from an SPD officer following an arrest outside a Seattle restaurant. A Q13 FOX News camera was there as the takedown happened in the early morning hours of April 17.
On the video, you can see an officer with the Seattle Police Department Gang Unit lean over to a suspect on the ground outside Rock Salt on Westlake Avenue North in the South Lake Union neighborhood and say "I will beat the F***ing Mexican P*** out of you, homey. Do you feel me?" Shortly after that, the officer appears to kick the suspect in the head.
Q13 FOX News is posting the entire unedited raw video online so you can be the judge. PLEASE NOTE: THE VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE.
The incident happened during a robbery investigation. Seattle police tell us there is an active internal investigation underway. Here is the statement SPD sent to Q13 FOX News:
On April 17, 2010, the Seattle Police Department became aware of possible officer misconduct during an investigation being conducted in the early morning hours of that same day near the 1200 block of Westlake Avenue North.
The Seattle Police Department initiated an internal review immediately upon hearing of the incident.
The Office of Professional Accountability has responsibility for this investigation. Two officers involved have been administratively reassigned pending the outcome.
The Seattle Police Department treats all allegations of police misconduct very seriously.
For more information regarding the Office of Professional Accountability please visit:
http://www.seattle.gov/police/accountability/
Mayor Mike McGinn released the following statement Friday:
""I watched the video and found it disturbing. Chief Diaz has informed me that SPD and the Office of Professional Accountability are investigating the incident. We won't have any further statement until that process is complete."
Friday night, the Seattle City Council issued the following statement: The Seattle City Council today expressed concern with the extremely troubling actions captured in a recent video involving the Seattle Police Department. The Council fully expects Seattle Police Department leadership to take the appropriate actions with the involved officers, upon completion of their internal investigation. The Council will await the internal review of the incident before making further comment. The Council has requested a briefing by the Seattle Police Department on the results of the internal review and next steps to be taken by the Department regarding law enforcement officers involved in the incident, as well as how best to ensure this type of confrontation is not repeated.
