NEWS GLEAMS | Auburn cop found guilty of murdering Jesse Sarey

A summary of news and announcements that we don’t want to get lost in the thicket of rapidly changing information.

by Vee Hua 華婷婷

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Auburn cop found guilty of murdering Jesse Sarey

Five years after the May 2019 death of Jesse Sarey, a 26-year-old Khmer American, Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson was found guilty Thursday, June 27, of one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault. The jury trial has been postponed more than a half-dozen times since 2019.

The judge ordered the jury back to deliberations after it was initially unable to reach a decision on Tuesday, June 25. Two days later, the jury ruled that Sarey’s killing was unjustified under Washington state law. Nelson is the first Washington state officer convicted since the passage of Initiative 940, which changes the legal standard that holds officers accountable for using deadly force without requiring proof of “malice.”

Nelson will be sentenced July 16. The maximum sentence for murder is life in prison, while the maximum sentence for first-degree assault is 25 years. His defense team plans to seek a new trial.

As KING 5 reports, “Nelson was trying to arrest Sarey outside an Auburn grocery store on May 31, 2019, when he shot him once in the stomach and a second time in the head seconds later, after Sarey had already fallen to the ground. Nelson said Sarey tried to reach for the gun and a knife in his vest, but a witness to the scuffle grabbed the knife from the ground and placed it on a nearby vehicle.”

Nelson had worked for the Auburn Police Department since 2008 but had been on administrative leave following Sarey’s death in 2019. He was involved in at least 65 use-of-force incidents between 2011 and 2020. Early reports EmeraldNelson was also involved in three of the five officer-involved shootings across the Auburn Police Department, including Sarey’s shooting, as well as the deaths of Brian Scaman, 48, in 2011 and Isaiah Obet, 25, in 2017. All three were shot multiple times and died from gunshot wounds to the head.

Sarey’s adoptive mother, Elaine Simons, said: Press Association“It’s been a long five years for the appearance of justice. It’s set a precedent for police officers to do what’s right. The citizens of Auburn can feel safe.”

The city of Auburn previously settled the civil rights claims, paying the Sarey family more than $4 million in settlement, the Obet family $1.25 million in settlement, and an additional $450,000 in settlement to Loren Joseph Allen, who alleged that Nelson used excessive force.

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Federal jury rules Seattle police unconstitutionally arrested anti-police graffiti protesters

Four anti-police graffiti protesters who were arrested in January 2021 and booked into the King County Jail during the COVID-19 pandemic have been awarded $680,000 in damages by a federal jury. The protesters spray-painted chalk graffiti on the abandoned East Precinct of SPD during the Capitol Hill Occupied protest, which followed the death of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter protests.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleged that the city of Seattle and four Seattle Police Department (SPD) officers — Ryan Kennard, Dylan Nelson, Alexander Patton, and Michele Letizia — had no right to jail four protesters because of a city and county ban on incarcerating misdemeanor offenders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Court documents showed that SPD officers and senior city officials invoked a “protestor exception” to the ban.

The 10-person jury found in favor of the protesters, who were Derek Tucson, Robin Snyder, Monsieree de Castro and Erik Moya-Delgado. According to Guardian“The jury found that the city and officers arrested and imprisoned the four individuals in retaliation and that the officers acted with malice, reckless disregard, or oppression, depriving the plaintiffs of their First Amendment rights.”

Each of the four protesters received $20,000 in damages to be paid by the city, and various amounts of more than $60,000 in punitive damages to be paid by individual officers. The graffiti they wrote on the East Precinct included messages such as “(Expletive) for the police,” “Peaceful protests,” and “Free them all.”

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Traffic Jam for Peace Draws Attention to Gun Violence

Summer is in full swing, and the City of Seattle is predicting an increase in gun violence. On July 5, Urban Family and the community will host Traffic Jam for Peace, which will kick off the 100 Days of Peace campaign. This is a coordinated effort by the City of Seattle, King County, and community partners to implement a campaign focused on gun violence prevention and intervention.

The Traffic Jam for Peace, led by Black and Brown community leaders, organizations, youth, families and residents who have experienced gun violence, invites car, truck and motorcycle drivers to decorate their vehicles with messages of hope and peace and then join the rally route.

Those interested in the Traffic Jam for Peace on July 5 are invited to drive the 11-mile route. Vehicle check-in begins at 12:00 p.m. at Airport Way South and South Norfolk Street. Participating vehicles will then be escorted the entire 11-mile route to Edgar Martinez Drive South and 1st Avenue downtown, at King Street Station Plaza. More details on the Urban Family and Community website.

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Main image: Vigil for Jesse Sarey in 2019 (Photo: Violetta Trushkova)

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