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OPA: Two Seattle officers used disproportionate force against protesters

SEATTLE — The Office of Police Accountability released five more completed investigations into claims of Seattle Police Department officer misconduct at protests following the murder of George Floyd.

In two of the cases, the OPA found that officers used disproportionate force for the situation.

One incident happened on June 7 when protesters positioned their bodies on the ground to stop bicycle officers from leaving a barricaded area.

Police said one protester was arrested after refusing to move. Video of the incident shows an officer pushing the protester into the ground, injuring the person’s head.

The OPA found that the force used by the officer was out of proportion to what was happening because the demonstrator wasn’t resisting and there was no physical threat to officers.

Another incident happened May 29 when officers stopped protesters from walking down a street and one man failed to comply.

As officers tried to arrest the man, he resisted and struggled with two officers on the ground. During the struggle, he hit officers with a water bottle and officers used force to stop him, the OPA said.

During that time, one officer punched the man six to eight times, which the OPA said was excessive because he didn’t regulate his response as the threat receded.

After an investigation, the OPA issues a finding of either sustained or not sustained for all allegations in a complaint. The two above cases both had sustained findings.

The Seattle police chief has not yet made decisions about whether to discipline the officers.

Since May 30, OPA received more than 19,000 complaints about Seattle police officers' conduct at protests. So far, the complaints have resulted in 128 cases.