SEATTLE, WA— The Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) released a blistering statement expressing alarm and laying the explosion of Antifa violence during a Christian concert on Saturday at the feet of Mayor Bruce Harrell and the city’s elected officials.
In an excoriating post to X, SPOG stated, “Over seven hundred police officers have fled this city in the past decade. This is due to the public safety political decisions by our elected leaders, activist pressure, and for their lack of action against ANTIFA criminals who continue to dictate public safety political terms. The remaining police officers in this city are tired. Our community is tired. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.”
The police guild added that it welcomes a mayoral review of the decision making process that led to the Antifa attack on the Christian concert, held at a park “commonly known as the heart of ANTIFA land,” commenting, “We have no doubt that this city decision, as naïve or deliberate as it was, put police officers in an untenable predicament. Whether it’s our job or not, we were once again ordered to put ourselves into a political quagmire. SPOG understands we will once again get blamed, and more calls will be heard for more accountability. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.”
Speaking with host Ari Hoffman of The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG) President Mike Solan openly accused Mayor Bruce Harrell of putting his police officers in harm’s way and siding with Antifa radicals over Seattle cops.
“This mayor seems more worried about being outflanked by the activist left than leading,” Solan told Hoffman, according to The Post Millennial. “He’s pandering to people who view Antifa violence as acceptable, while ignoring the reality that officers are being assaulted.”
“Cops got put into the hospital,” he added.
As observed in the SPOG statement posted to X, Solan told the host, “This is the city’s reality: we are below minimum staffing every shift, in every precinct,” Solan said. “The officers you saw on the line—those were patrol officers pulled from precincts. So, who’s left to answer 911 calls?”
As reported by Law Enforcement Today in March, Seattle has been facing an ongoing shortage of police manpower, and the city council has responded with resolutions to reverse attempts from “past councils to defund or abolish the police,” according to Seattle councilmember Rob Saka.
However, in its statement Sunday, SPOG made the situation clear:
“To be clear, WE DO NOT have the proper staffing to handle any more of these demonstrations that turn into mass arrests. Even more importantly, we as a police union understand that this city lacks the political will to allow police to use the necessary tools to hold back criminal mobs to protect life and property. This once again, puts lives in danger. Haven’t we learned from 2020? Will our prosecutors and judges hold these criminals accountable? Will the activists call for more police accountability? This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.
Presently, 28% of the city’s remaining 847 deployable police officers (284) are eligible to retire. If yesterday is a precursor of future events, we may see what was previously described as Seattle’s “Summer of Love” once again turn into Seattle’s Summer of Violence and the decimation of a once renowned police force. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.”
Solan warned in his interview with Hoffman, “If we’re already below minimum safe staffing levels, and you’ve got these guys on the line who are getting assaulted by Antifa, and no mention from the mayor about the injuries on cops… we gotta buckle up for a long, long summer.”
He concluded, “We are already out of contract. We’ve been out for a year and a half. We keep hearing about hiring gains, but no one is talking about the number of officers walking out the door. If we lose another 100 officers, it’s over. We won’t be able to protect this city.”
