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In a clear example of cops being falsely accused of racial bias, a kindergarten teacher in Seattle was busted by a police officer’s bodycam.
Kert Lin claimed the officer lied to him after he was victimized by racial taunting in a Home Depot parking lot, but the footage reveals that the teacher’s allegations against the officer are largely untrue.
Even though Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best, who has urged residents to call 911 to report bias incidents, was quick to usher an apology to the dishonest teacher.
The incident took place in May, after a verbal altercation about being cut off. Lin said in a Facebook post the other man told him, “Ch*nk open your eyes go back to China.”
Lin claimed he was told by an officer who responded that “no crime was committed, that man was exercising his first amendment rights. No law broken, no report taken.”
He told the Seattle Times he asked the officer whether there is a directive to officers to police against bias and racism.
“He said nope, uh-uh, there’s nothing,” he said, adding the officer left without taking a report.
Lin wrote on Facebook at the time:
I called Seattle Police Department. Officer Jones responded and said no crime was committed, that man was exercising his first amendment rights. No law broken, no report taken.
I pressed on this. I asked what the community response would be. Officer Jones said he knew of no directive from HQ or SPD regarding racism, particularly racism toward Asian Americans. I asked multiple times and he outright lied every time.
My Northwest reporter Jason Rantz requested and obtained the responding officer’s bodycam footage, and said “much of what Kert Lin wrote isn’t true.”
“It’s true that the officer said no crime was committed because, well, no crime was committed. But to portray the officer as dismissive betrays reality,” Rantz reported.
A Seattle kindergarten teacher’s claims about an interaction with police over a bias incident went viral. Much of what he wrote isn’t true, bodycam footage reveals.
MORE: https://t.co/5ZsIE0gj6M pic.twitter.com/R3x5svCaMN
— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) July 7, 2020
“It sounds like he’s being a jerk and you could probably come up with some other colorful words for what he was being, if he’s using inappropriate terms, trying to insult you,” the officer politely tells Lin. “But if there is not a crime committed, we can’t detain and take enforcement action.”
The officer was empathetic and condemned the language used against Lin, calling it “an affront to social decency,” Rantz noted.
“Trust me, I agree with you,” the officer sympathized. “They should not be jerks, and they should not be speaking to you that way. I don’t speak to people that way. I’m sure, it sounds like, you don’t speak that way to people. But there are people that are rude and even beyond rude — socially unacceptable.”
As for Lin’s claim the officer lied about the Seattle Police Department’s protocol for bias incidents, Rants reported that the officer did file a report.
What’s more, Lin was aware that a report had been filed.
Rantz said that while initially the officer wasn’t going to make report, he quickly called Lin to say he would file a report and offer him the incident number.
“On Facebook, three days after the incident, Lin claimed ‘no report taken,’ which was completely false at the time. In fact, Lin knew it was false. That makes it a lie,” he said.
It shouldn’t be lost that the claim of a racist attack being made comes from the same man misrepresenting the police officer’s conduct.
Here’s a sampling of responses to the story from Twitter:
The damage has already been done. The officer is owed an apology and won’t get one. It’s people like this that destroy the trust between community and police.
— Don’t feed the trolls (@nwkindoflife) July 7, 2020
I am afraid of this man being around children, let alone teaching them. He cannot understand a very basic concept like, oh idk, mean words aren’t illegal?
He wants the cop to go spank the other guy?
— AshDown (@down_ash) July 7, 2020
What did he think that the appropriate punishment should have been?
— Yodavirus19 (@LightningJack7) July 7, 2020
“I got called bad names what can I do?”
Grow some thicker skin, dude.
— PhoenixPhyre™ (@PhoenixPhyre1) July 7, 2020
Pardon, but where is the EVIDENCE that there even was a “slur”?
We only have this jerk’s say-so, and given how he lied about his interaction with the police officer, NO ONE should ASSUME that the snowflake is telling the truth about that either.
— Eagle in NYC (@EagleInNYC) July 7, 2020
I didn’t see the original report, but this officer handled the situation with a lot of respect.
— Alice (@themodalice) July 7, 2020
Great conduct by the police officer. He explained his position and extents of his powers and never said anything controversial, even as an example.
— Old Man McGucket (@Corvin666) July 7, 2020
It’s the pussification of America.
— Kristin (@Kristinf78) July 7, 2020
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The longest-tenured writer at BizPac Review, Tom grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills.
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