July 8, 2020

On Wednesday, July 7th, 2020 a Washington State patrol officer chased a man down through the Fred Meyers parking lot in Yakima, WA and tackled him to the ground. The event sparked an obvious example of unnecessary use of police force.

In the process, the community member’s head was slammed into the pavement causing him to split his forehead open. After the community member was pinned down, Officer B. Althauser (#7419) took out his K-9 (dog) and proceeded to tell the community member, who was already on the ground, to “Put your hands behind your back or the dog will bite you.” The community member did not understand English and none of the officers on the scene at the time spoke Spanish. Additionally, the officer who was pinning him down had the community member lying on his arms so it was not possible for the community member to move.

The people who took this video had to stand back and translate for the community member and inform him of his rights. According to witnesses, the dog injured the community member enough that he could not stand up. It took 5 officers and several medics to lift him onto the ambulance gurney all while the community member was “screaming in agony”about the pain in his leg.

Eventually, Officer N. Garcia, who spoke Spanish, appeared on the scene. Witnesses say that instead of talking to the community member who was injured, he kept talking to other Spanish-speaking witnesses telling them, “You are distracting me from doing my job.” Additionally, this incident happened during the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington State. As of now, Governor Jay Inslee has issued a mandate that requires everyone out in public to wear protective face masks to reduce the risk of sickness. Eyewitnesses and video testimonies show that several officers, including those who were holding the community member down were not wearing masks, were not respecting social distancing rules, and refused to respond to community members when they asked where their masks were. One witness let us know that according to one cop there is a mask shortage.

As of today, we are unaware of why the community member was arrested. Regardless, no one should be brutalized like this. Ever.

When we presented our demands to the community we emphasized that we need culturally competent cops in our current system. Part of that includes knowing the language that the majority population of the city speaks. Without clear communication cops will continue to escalate situations and hurt our communities.

We strongly believe that more excessive force would have been used if it were not for community members recording, witnessing, and being aware of their right. We would like to emphasize that the use of the K-9 (dog) by Officer B. Althauser (#7419) was UNNECESSARY and EXCESSIVE.

How many times does it have to happen in Yakima, in our community, before the leadership in Yakima begins to have meaningful conversations and begins to act?

We ask that you continue to show up, be loud, and demand that community members involved in incidents like these get the justice and care that they deserve.