Black Washington Law Enforcement Group Criticizes City Attorney's Office for Filing Assault Charge Against Black Officer Garth Haynes

Black Washington law enforcement advocacy group criticizes the City Attorney's office for filing assault charges against a black officer, Garth Haynes, while failing to bring charges against two white officers for a similar incident in 2010.

The Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington is up-in-arms with prosecutors for filing an assault charge against black Seattle Officer Garth Haynes, who was involved in an off-duty brawl, while not charging two white officers - Shandy Cobane and Mary Woollum - who stomped a Hispanic suspect lying on the ground in another incident, while they conducted a robbery investigation in 2010.

The decision by the City Attorney's Office to charge Officer Garth Haynes "is demonstrative of the disparate treatment" that African Americans routinely encounter in the criminal justice system, the Black Law Enforcement Association of Washington said in a statement issued Monday.

While not condoning the actions of Haynes, who was charged last week with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault for stomping on the head of a handcuffed man outside a Ballard bar in December, the association accused the City Attorney's Office of not "approaching these type of cases in a fair and consistent manner." Source: Seattle Times

Of course, the prosecutor's office says race wasn't a factor. Hey if you have to mention race isn't a factor in a case, then guess what? It really was a factor to begin with.