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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums69 yr old black man using golf club as cane gets arrested. dash cam saves him from cop's lies
White female officer who trained gun on 69-year-old man using golf club as a cane is pulled from duty after her online rants against 'rampant black racism' exposedDash cam video revealed that Officer Cynthia Whitlach was lying when she claimed William Wingate brandished the club at her in July
In the video, Wingate appears confused at Whitlach's screaming demands he drop the club he was using as a cane
After having some trouble hearing Whitlach, Wingate refuses to drop the club and is arrested
Facebook posts in which Whitlach appears to rage against 'black racists' in the wake of the Ferguson protests also came to light in the investigation
Whitlach has been placed on desk duty as
She told him he had swung it at her, and that audio and video recordings from her cruiser would back up her allegations.
Wingate appeared surprised, seemed to have trouble hearing the officer, and then insisted he had done no such thing.
He said he had used the golf club as a cane for 20 years.
Wingate was eventually convicted of unlawfully using a weapon under a plea deal in which the charge would be dismissed if he had no other offenses for two years.
No recordings surfaced to bolster Whitlach's version of events, and after a state lawmaker questioned the arrest, the city attorney's office took another look.
Whitlach was initially just given 'counseling' when the dash cam footage emerged. She was placed on desk duty when her Facebook posts were revealed
Whitlach was initially just given 'counseling' when the dash cam footage emerged.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2932419/Seattle-officer-arrested-man-golf-club-reassigned.html#ixzz3QHB1R8DH
tblue37
(65,290 posts)she can't find even a minuscule real world hook to hang her accusations on.
braddy
(3,585 posts)TheFarseer
(9,319 posts)considering how things are going these days. Am I a bad person for wondering what happened before the camera started rolling? Why would she even pull over and say anything to him at all? Did he just look like a good target for power trip police bull$hit?
braddy
(3,585 posts)JI7
(89,244 posts)Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)rhett o rick
(55,981 posts)many cases to court. Probably told him to take a plea.
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Suich
(10,642 posts)We've got a new female Chief of Police and she's kicking butt and taking names!
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)Go Vols
(5,902 posts)tblue37
(65,290 posts)gives one amount ($750,000), while the caption under a photo gives another ($75,000). I'm guessing the correct amount is $75,000. I hope he wins!
ON EDIT: Check out this comment from an article on a local site about this case--
Furthermore, if he *had* hit the sign, there would have been some sort of evidence of the blow on the sign.
Police officers should be seriously punished when caught out in such obvious lies. At the very least, no one should ever give a cop the benefit of the doubt in any cop vs. citizen situation where it is just one person's word against another. Their propensity for lying has been proven to be not a bug but a feature of their training and their policing tactics, so much so that it seems to be automatic. I have actually read about some cases in which cops falsify details even when there is no apparent advantage in doing so.
cstanleytech
(26,280 posts)mythology
(9,527 posts)She needs to be fired and prosecuted. Likewise the prosecutor and the chief of police need to also be arrested. Why was the dashcam footage not available before Wingate was forced into a plea deal.
Interestingly there's no email address for the police on the city of Seattle's website. However, there is a form to submit email to the office of the mayor.
http://www.seattle.gov/mayor/get-involved/contact-the-mayor
I doubt making them aware of my disgust will help, especially given that I'm not a resident, but it can't hurt either.
cstanleytech
(26,280 posts)to be arrested though they should be disciplined for not investigating.
Baitball Blogger
(46,698 posts)PSPS
(13,588 posts)More info at the Seattle Times here:
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025578148_golfclubapologyxml.html
what is wrong with her?
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)That's what is wrong with her.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)and that is some seriously wrong.
Stellar
(5,644 posts)I mean truly p me off!!! Should she tell him why he should put down the the golf club? You got whites carrying around rifles and guns and no one says a word about it or to them. But if a person of color, has a legal right to carry, he might possibly be killed even if it's a toy, just because...
IcyPeas
(21,857 posts)C Moon
(12,212 posts)Did you hear her say "I'm going to shut off the video now and see if there's footage of him swinging the golf club at me as I came around the corner."
Wow!
And she seemed to become uncomfortable when the other officers arrived on scene, "I can't find his ID in here..." She sounded like she was sweating bullets and trying to find something wrong with the poor man.
Midnight Writer
(21,738 posts)Not only was this guy harassed and arrested for no reason, HE WAS CONVICTED.
Sadly, this story is courtesy of UK press. You won't see this video on our number 1 Cable News Channel, FOX, or indeed on any other of our news outlets.
I am no cop hater, and I readily admit that our justice system is better than most, but it is corruption like this that destroys the public trust.
progressoid
(49,969 posts)Can you imagine the comments they would be getting?
Asshole.
PSPS
(13,588 posts)Based on other YouTube videos of this ilk, the comments would consist mostly of racial slurs, most of which would be even worse than the cop posted on her own Facebook page.
aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)Who is the paranoid one? Assuming a club Wingate used as a cane was a potential weapon is paranoid. Whitlach is a dangerous person and psychologically unsuited to police work and carrying a loaded weapon.
villager
(26,001 posts)n/t
Response to Liberal_in_LA (Original post)
1000words This message was self-deleted by its author.
villager
(26,001 posts)Guess they come into the "festering" cities to work as cops...
Scootaloo
(25,699 posts)Not that I'm a fan of either, but at least the Seattle Police seem slightly aware that people are watching. Portland cops are a bunch of ham-necked screaming sociopaths.
Response to Scootaloo (Reply #33)
1000words This message was self-deleted by its author.
R. Daneel Olivaw
(12,606 posts)This shit has to stop.
cstanleytech
(26,280 posts)as well as implementing comprehensive psychiatric examinations for all future prospective officers.
BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)If they are serious about cleaning up their act, this would send a strong message. Put the old guy on the police review board.
Her behavior is really outrageous.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)And ban her from such work.
MADem
(135,425 posts)maybe adding footing to them and punching up the handles with some kind of fancy foolishness...they could call them "Wingates~!" Get a few famous people to carry them as a fashion accessory...start a new trend...!
mackerel
(4,412 posts)Chakab
(1,727 posts)in the US and that all of their grievances about the police are fictitious while she's on the street everyday making their lives hell.
Here's an interview with her former partner, who is also an ex-police officer, who claims that she an overt racist.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/01/29/ex-tukwila-cop-says-spd-officer-cynthia-whitlatch-is-a-racist-who-once-stole-marijuana-from-police-evidence
So much for solidarity between ill-treated minority groups.
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Evidence of racism in any interaction should be cause for immediate dismissal. She is a hazard and does not deserve to work on the police force, PERIOD.
JI7
(89,244 posts)Cha
(297,113 posts)Whitlach. Notice this is on a UK site.
marions ghost
(19,841 posts)This is what happens when you whip up division and racism. People become subhuman.
All that pent-up hate launched on this poor guy (who reminds me of my quirky Dad who used odd things for a cane...)
Check out this video everyone--this is scary. Why is she not immediately out of a job?
RedCappedBandit
(5,514 posts)marions ghost
(19,841 posts)'If you believe that blacks are NOT accusing white America for their problems then you are missing the point of the riots in Ferguson and the chronic black racism in this country. I am tired of black peoples paranoia that white people are out to get them. I am tired of hearing a black racist tell me the only reason they are being contacted is because they are black solely because I am NOT black. I am tired of black people saying poor poor me when other races and genders and homeless and gays sufer far more prejudice than any black man does in the US.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2932419/Seattle-officer-arrested-man-golf-club-reassigned.html#ixzz3QJ33aoSh
--Good G-d, what has this country come to? Thank you Fux and Rush...(not making excuses for her--but they are complicit)
oberliner
(58,724 posts)In a phone conversation with The Stranger, Purucker agreed to go on the record because her father was a police officer, she said, and "he would want me to do the right thing." Purucker recognized Whitlatch, she said, because she was in a relationship with her for more than two years. During their relationship, Purucker said, Whitlatch made racist comments about black people she'd encountered while on patrol in Seattle and, in the spring of 2005, stole marijuana from SPD evidence that the couple then smoked together.
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2015/01/29/ex-tukwila-cop-says-spd-officer-cynthia-whitlatch-is-a-racist-who-once-stole-marijuana-from-police-evidence
TheKentuckian
(25,023 posts)is aiding them in persecuting people.