New May 24 footage shows sergeant punching protester repeatedly
Seattle Police Sergeant David Adams claimed the man "charged" and attempted to tackle him. According to Adams' bodycam, it was the other way around.
Newly released video of arrests at the Mayday USA concert in Cal Anderson Park earlier this year shows a Seattle police sergeant taking a counterdemonstrator to the ground and punching him multiple times. The sergeant’s body-worn video also undermines the basis for the initial arrest.
The man was among the 23 arrested while counterprotesting the Christian fundamentalist event on May 24. Sgt. David Adams led a squad of officers on bikes into the park to arrest protesters after a scuffle. Adams is assigned to a specialized anti-protest unit known as the Community Response Group.
Once they got inside the park, the CRG’s sortie devolved into a chaotic scene, with officers pushing, screaming, and throwing protesters down. Adams, with red tape on his helmet, can be seen punching someone from another officer’s body-worn video:
The man Adams punched was arrested for assaulting an officer, a felony. According to the probable cause statement, he “charged at Sgt. Adams, was trying to grab his head, and Sgt. Adams believed he was trying to punch or tackle him.”
SPD objected to his release on the basis that he had been arrested for failure to disperse, a misdemeanor, and that he had “escalated” to assault on an officer and was “likely to assault officers again.”
However, Adams’ bodyworn video footage shows the man walking up to approximately eight to 10 feet from where the arrests were taking place and stopping.
Adams rushes past another officer and grabs him. The man raises his hands defensively and tries to push him away. Adams sweeps his leg, takes him to the ground, and starts punching.
While face-down on the ground, the protester covers his head with his hands, and Adams continues hitting him and ordering him to put his arms behind his back. Officer Erik Larson assists him on the other side.
Unnecessary, unreasonable, and disproportionate
Based on the standard set in Graham v. Connor, Adams’ punches were unlawful. Putting aside the fact that he didn’t have probable cause for the initial arrest, his hits didn’t meet the criteria of “necessary, reasonable, and proportionate.”
We don’t have Adams’ use-of-force statement, but we can assume his justification for using force was that he was allegedly attempting to defend himself from an assault and trying to get the protester to release his grip so that he could be handcuffed.
In the probable cause statement, Adams claimed that the protester “tried to grab his head” and that he “believed he was trying to punch or tackle him.” Assuming this were true, he’s referring to events that allegedly occurred while both of them were still standing.
The punches didn’t start until the protester was face down on the ground. He was physically resisting but not assaulting either officer. In the past, the Office of Police Accountability has allowed punches and knee strikes when the subject is “turtling” (hiding their hands under their body) because they could be potentially reaching for a hidden weapon.
In this case, the protester’s hands were on the back of his head and fully visible.
State law defines force as “necessary” when “a reasonably effective alternative to the use of physical force or deadly force does not appear to exist.” Similarly, Seattle police policy mandates that officers use the “least amount [of force] necessary to effect a lawful purpose.”
In the end, Adams ultimately uses a “reasonably effective alternative.” He pries the prostester’s fingers loose and handcuffs him, and Officer Larson does the same. Therefore, the punches were objectively unnecessary.
Furthermore, under Graham v. Connor, force is judged from the perspective of a hypothetical “reasonable officer officer on the scene.” Here, we don’t need to imagine a hypothetical officer because another cop was there helping Adams cuff the man. Notably, Officer Larson didn’t throw punches or use reportable force of any kind.
In other cases, the OPA has contrasted the force used by two officers in the same situation to determine that one used excessive force. For example, the OPA found that Sgt. Nathan Patterson violated policy when he struck a protester upwards of eight times, but no allegations were sustained against the other officer who only punched twice and “modulated.”
Other policy violations
Later, as they prepared to take the protester to the arrest van, Adams barked at him to lay face-down on the ground, and threatened to pepper spray him if he doesn’t. The protester yells “Fuck you!” at him, and Adams grabs the handcuffs, twists them, and pushes them up hard to the center of his back, causing him to scream out in pain.
A variation of this tactic that produces minor discomfort isn’t considered reportable force. But this video shows Adams pushing the handcuffs up to inflict pain on a restrained person intentionally. Seattle police policy prohibits the use of force to punish or retaliate and against restrained people.
Lastly, Adams was dishonest in his description of the incident to another sergeant and likely in his reports as well. He tells the sergeant that the protester “drove” at the arresting officers and Adams pepper-sprayed him, but then the protester came back at him and tried to tackle him.
While officers might conceivably misremember things or confuse facts in a fast-moving situation, this is such a far cry from anything recorded on the video that it’s hard to see this as anything other than a deliberate fabrication. Adams does not pepper-spray the protester. He grabs another person, throws them down, trips over a bike, then spies the protester walking up and rushes at him.
Fourteen officers are currently facing OPA investigations for their actions on May 24. Sgt. Adams has one open investigation for force. It’s unclear if that is related to this incident, but it has been approved for “Expedited Investigation,” meaning the OPA can issue findings based on reports and bodyworn video alone and cannot issue sustained findings.