Portland Police Internal Affairs Probe Sparks Outrage From Feds

PORTLAND, OR — The city of Portland finds itself once again at odds with the Federal government over the actions of the city's police bureau. The Department of Justice, which has been investigating the practices of Portland Police are not happy that they were just notified of an ongoing internal investigation that started in September.

"Had the City informed us of the existence of these training materials at the time, we would have had the opportunity to provide substantial edits and decline to approve the training," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jared Hager and R. Jonas Geissler, a senior trial attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division wrote in a letter to Chief of Police Chuck Lovell and City Attorney Robert Taylor.

"The existence of these RRT training materials might have materially impacted our assessments of the City’s compliance with the Agreement."

The issue concerns the last slide in a 110-slide training presentation used by the Police Bureau's Rapid Response Team.

The slide as a meme known as "Prayer of the Alt Knight,"is popular on alt-right and white supremacist sites and encourages violence against protesters.

“I am disgusted that this offensive content was added to a training presentation for our police officers." Mayor Wheeler said in a statement.

"As soon as I was made aware of the incident, I reached out to Chief Lovell, who shared my deep concern and assured me that a thorough and complete investigation was underway. "

The meme reads:

“And the Lord said...
Woe be unto you, dirty hippy;
For thou stinketh of patchouli and BO;
For thou talk of Marx, yet know him not;
For thous hast bills, yet have not paid;
For thou hast dreadlocks and white skin.
And so I shall send among you,
My humble servants with hat, and with bat;
That they may christen your heads with hickory,
And anoint your faces with pepper spray.
And one thou hast been cuffed and stuffed;
Once thou has been stitched and bandaged;
Perhaps thou shall learn,
I’m tired of your shit.
Amen.”

Hager and Geissler say that the inclusion of the slide in the training presentation should have been reported to the Department of Justice back in September when it was discovered. They add that had they been informed, "we might have proposed additional remedies" in their mediation talks with the city concerning changes to how the bureau operates.

As a result of the late disclosure – the city only notified the Department of Justice the night before the presentation was to be included in a filing in a different lawsuit against the police bureau and the city – DOJ demands the city provide several documents by the end of January:

1. The original, unredacted electronic records containing all RRT training materials since 2018, including all metadata;
2. An initial report and periodic status reports regarding the internal investigation of this matter, including the circumstances regarding the training being finalized and delivered, and the training information being withheld from the United States; and
3. The City’s plans to ensure that that it timely provides all information required to be disclosed under the Agreement.