Lt. Matthew Didier is in trouble for telling officers, “We’re here to fuck people up,” at a rally last May, but just how much trouble remains to be seen. Though the Office of Police Accountability sustained findings in July, the department still hasn’t issued discipline.
Didier made these comments during a counterprotest against religious fundamentalists in Cal Anderson Park on May 24, 2025. About 50 minutes before he said this, Didier had led the Seattle police’s anti-protest unit into the park to arrest a man for tampering with the fundamentalists’ balloons.
The alleged balloon vandal got away (possibly cackling like the Joker as he fled). The bike-mounted cops made several arrests on cover charges like obstruction. Afterward, Didier and his squad regrouped.
He told officers, “We’re about to put in some fucking work, but we’re going in this time with our guns blazing and all our pieces in place.”
Shortly after he said this, Didier said: “We’re past talking to people. We’re here to fuck people up.”
Didier implied that the unit was taking a soft approach, but now the gloves were off. However, they weren’t doing much “talking” just minutes earlier.
The first raid into the park was a violent, chaotic spectacle. An officer rammed a man with his bike, launching him 10 feet. Another tackled a protest medic, beat them, then turned to another protester and punched them several times. A sergeant hammered a man in the head eight times with his fists.
In other words, they had already “fuck[ed] people up.” Nevertheless, they didn’t catch the protesters they were trying to arrest, and that apparently hurt Didier’s pride.
In the past, the OPA has been lenient on officers who make statements like this outside of the public view, but Didier’s bodycam footage was presented last fall to the Office of the Inspector General’s sentinel event review, and one of the panel’s non-police participants leaked the comments to a certain beloved local police watchdog.
'Go in heavy'—SPD's violent May sortie into Cal Anderson started with a balloon
After the Seattle police rolled into Cal Anderson Park on bikes and arrested 23 people counterprotesting a fundamentalist concert in May, there were lots of wild stories about how it all started. One of the more fanciful claims still circulating was that “antifa” chucked water balloons filled with urine into the crowd. As it turns out, a balloon
Seattle police policy forbids cops from doing anything that “undermines public trust,” and Didier’s comments definitely embarrassed the department.
According to documents from the Washington Criminal Justice Training Commission, the OPA recommended disciplinary options ranging from an oral reprimand to a two-day suspension. We don’t really know what kind of disciplinarian interim Chief Andre Sayles is, but he’ll almost certainly pick one of the lighter punishments.
Didier has already been transferred to the Harbor Patrol. It’s like SPD’s Island of Misfit Toys, where fuckups, killers, and cops accused of planting evidence are temporarily banished and rehabilitated.
Whether that’s a punishment or not depends on how much Didier likes the sea — and how well he can swim.
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