Seattle officials haven’t announced a single measure of accountability for an unidentified police officer accused of spraying a 7-year-old boy with pepper spray at an anti-police brutality protest more than two weeks ago. What police have done in that time is arrest Evan Hreha, a hairstylist who filmed the moments after the child was sprayed, The Guardian reported Monday.
Hreha spent two days in jail earlier this month on a charge of unlawful discharge of a laser, according to King County jail records. The child injured at the protest suffered a chemical burn on his cheek. When his father, Mando Avery, was asked what message he had for police, he told The Guardian: “I don’t know if you were trying to set an example and strike fear into him. You did a great job.”
CLICK HERE to support organizations that are fighting every day for racial justice.
Hreha's video of the child, who isn't named to protect his identity, shows him screaming in agony as protesters tried to relieve his pain. They sprayed water and eventually poured milk on him. “Stop it! Stop it!” he screamed at one point.
Avery told The Guardian when his family made the one-hour trip from Tacoma, Washington, to Seattle to participate in the protest May 30, he didn't think his son was in danger. They circled an area of the protest looking for parking and noticed other families with pets and young children, the newspaper reported. The family said they figured they were safe, but in less than one hour, they realized otherwise.
“I kind of feel like a failure as well,” the child’s mother, Shenelle Williams, told The Guardian, “because I feel like I couldn’t protect him, but there was nothing that we could do at that time to prevent it.” She said hearing her child scream gave her the “most gut-wrenching feeling.”
The family has consulted an attorney but has not decided on their next steps yet, The Guardian reported. “We just wanted to stand up for what was right,” Avery told the newspaper. “Ultimately our boys will become men and our daughters will become women. And they will ultimately have to face some of the same racial injustices.”
Hreha told KOMO News about 50 people faced off with cops at the protest but the child was maced during a peaceful prayer a reverend led across the street. He described the incident as “horrifying” and “visceral,” and it was hardly the only accusation of violence against Seattle police.
The city’s Office of Police Accountability told KOMO News the office usually gets about 14,000 complaints a year, but it hit that number in just a few days after George Floyd's death. The incident involving the pepper-sprayed child led to 11,000 complaints alone, the Office of Police Accountability reported. The office has indicated on its website that it is about halfway through its investigation and the next step is interviewing both named employees and witnesses who work for the police department.
It’s unclear when the investigation will conclude, but the Office of Public Accountability responded to a request for comment from Daily Kos with what appeared to be an automated email laying out a 30-day processing period.
The city has been quicker to pass other reform measures aimed at protecting residents such as legislation the Seattle City Council passed requiring officers to display their badge numbers. The council also passed a ban Monday on city agencies using tear gas, pepper spray, or other crowd-control weapons at protests. The ban follows a federal judge’s order and a 30-day ban on tear gas, which failed to prevent incidents of violence in the name of crowd control.
Councilmember Kshama Sawant, who had been pepper-sprayed herself at a protest June 8, hailed the more recent unanimous vote as well as a ban on Seattle police using chokeholds as steps in the right direction. Although, she did so with reservations.
"This, while historic, will not be enough,” she said in a tweet Monday. “A law against chokeholds didn't save Eric Garner's life. But important to have won! Let's use today's victories as fuel to build an even stronger movement to #DefundPolice!”
RELATED: What does defund the police actually mean? Here's what protesters and activists are talking about
RELATED: A roundup of reforms aimed at fighting police brutality since George Floyd's death
RELATED: Viral video depicts protestors pouring milk and water on child allegedly pepper-sprayed by police