Featured

Seattle Police Chief Quits After Council Defunds Police, Couldn’t Bring Herself To Fire Officers

Published

3 years ago

August 12, 2020

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best announced her resignation on Tuesday, citing a “lack of respect for officers” and the inevitable firings that will take place of colored police officers as a result of the Seattle City Council’s decision to defund the police. Best squashed theories that she was retiring because of a pay cut or protestors — but because she couldn’t see the officers let go, saying “I really couldn’t do it.”

The Seattle City Council’s decision to reduce the police force by laying off up to 100 officers meant Best would have to fire a great number of minority officers which “goes against my principles and convictions,” she said in a Tuesday press conference.

Best said she was “really reflective” about her resignation and “it’s highly distressful” for her that there wasn’t a sufficient plan in place and that officers she cares about would have to be let go.

Police Chief @CarmenBest was asked what led to her decision to resign.

She said she could not be part of firing young officers of color as a result of @SeattleCouncil’s decision to Defund the department.

“I’m done… can’t do it.”

Listen to this email.

This is heartbreaking. pic.twitter.com/vxA6zhRCFm
— Benny (@bennyjohnson) August 12, 2020

After a reporter asked the Chief what led her to the final decision, Best said it was not about the money.

“It’s been intimated that somehow, it had something to do with the salary, but nobody joins a police department to get rich,” Best said. “I would have chosen another profession if money was a motivator.”

She cited the need for a plan and that it was “highly disappointing to not see one in place” after the council’s decision.

The now-former Chief read an email from a Black officer she recently met. The email, Best said, brought tears to her eyes — specifically because officers like this will likely lose their jobs.

“I’ve finally been hired after applying for five years and I was ecstatic that it was under your command,” the email from a officer read. “Being an African American male with you as my Chief, made the fact that I had served my country under the honorable Barack Obama, that much sweeter.”

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan took to Twitter last night to express her feelings about the resignation.

Today is a sad day for Seattle in a hard, hard year. For the past 30 years, Chief Best has been one of those leaders that has shown up and shown what she is made of. I will freely admit that I wish she were staying on, and that I asked whether she would.
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) August 11, 2020

Perhaps Durkan and the rest of the Seattle council members who voted to defund the police will see the damage and pain their decision made in the name of “social justice” has done to the very race of people they supposedly sought to benefit.

Featured

Hunter Biden Indicted on Federal Gun Charges Amidst Special Counsel Investigation

Published

1 week ago

September 14, 2023

Alexander Carter

Screen Shot 2021 04 09 at 4.57.09 PM scaled

In a significant development, Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, was indicted on Thursday on federal gun charges as part of Special Counsel David Weiss’ ongoing investigation. The indictment alleges that Hunter Biden made false statements during the purchase of a firearm, among other charges.

The charges against Hunter Biden include:

• Making a false statement in the purchase of a firearm

• Making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federal firearms licensed dealer

•Possession of a firearm by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance

According to the indictment, the alleged incident occurred on or about October 12, 2018, in the District of Delaware. Hunter Biden is accused of knowingly making a false and fictitious written statement during the acquisition of a Colt Cobra 38SPL Revolver. According to reports from Fox News, the statement, submitted on Form 4473, falsely certified that he was not an unlawful user of, and addicted to, any stimulant, narcotic drug, or controlled substance.

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Furthermore, the indictment further states that between October 12, 2018, and October 23, 2018, in the District of Delaware, Hunter Biden knowingly possessed the same firearm despite being an unlawful user of and addicted to controlled substances. This marks the first set of charges brought by Special Counsel David Weiss against Hunter Biden since being granted special counsel status.

The investigation came to public attention when it was reported by Fox News in 2021 that police had responded to an incident in 2018 involving a gun owned by Hunter Biden.

Reports state that, Hallie Biden, the widow of President Biden’s late son, Beau, who was in a relationship with Hunter at the time, discarded the gun. Hunter’s gun was thrown away in a dumpster near a market, located close to a school. It was subsequently revealed that Hunter Biden had purchased a gun earlier that same month.

Hunter Biden’s legal troubles do not end with the gun charges. Earlier in July, an original plea agreement collapsed, which would have seen him plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax counts for willful failure to pay federal income tax, thus avoiding jail time on a felony gun charge. Instead, he pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges and one felony gun charge.

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed David Weiss as special counsel to oversee the Hunter Biden investigation and related matters. The White House has declined to comment on these developments, which continue to draw significant public and media attention.

Follow Alexander Carter on Twitter @AlexCarterDC for more!