Cop Has Critical Message for Fellow Law Enforcement During COVID, Now He Could Be Fired
Port of Seattle Police Officer Greg Anderson, who posted a video of himself urging fellow law enforcement professionals to uphold Americans’ constitutional rights, is now facing termination from his job.
Anderson has been placed on administrative leave because of the video, in which he reminded his fellow officers that newly implemented rules surrounding the coronavirus pandemic do not give them unlimited power.
“I have seen officers nationwide enforcing tyrannical orders against the people, and I’m hoping it’s the minority of officers, but I’m not sure anymore,” he said at the beginning of the video, which he posted to his Instagram account May 5 and soon went viral.
Sitting in what appears to be his police cruiser, Anderson continued to passionately question why law enforcement across the country were willingly trampling citizens’ rights and liberties.
“I want to remind you that regardless of where you stand on the coronavirus, we don’t have the authority to do those things to people just because a mayor or a governor tells you otherwise,” he said. “I don’t care if it’s your sergeant or your chief of police, we don’t get to violate people’s constitutional rights because somebody in our chain of command tells us otherwise. It’s not how this country works. Those are de facto arrests, you know we’re violating people’s rights.”
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His video, which has been viewed millions of times, has expanded the conversation about the boundaries between constitutional rights and public health rules.
Anderson also talked about the dangers that stripping away the people’s rights could have in society.
The officer said those still pushing to violate the Constitution lead him to be “afraid that these actions are going to wake a sleeping giant,” meaning the American people.
Anderson declared that the spirit Americans possess is much stronger than that of the officials who violate their rights. He referred to police officers’ power as “nothing more than a façade,” saying that when the people get fed up with having their liberties taken, law enforcement will have their power to enforce the law stripped “in about 10 minutes.”
Having overseas combat experience as an Army Ranger veteran, Anderson talked about the sheer velocity of the American spirit of defiance. “They are going to fight 10 times harder for their freedom on their soil than anything you’ve ever seen before,” he said.
Anderson said the Port of Seattle Police Department agreed with his point of view and was initially supportive of his video.
However, in a follow-up Instagram post, he said that after the video was up for three hours and had 400,000 views, his chain of command chained its tune and demanded he take it down.
Having three young children to provide for, the easy response could have been to follow orders. However, Anderson put his convictions above comfortability.
“No, I can’t take the video down. If you believe in something in your heart, you have to stand by that conviction, even if it costs you everything.”
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Anderson explained that his command was often changing their reasoning and allegedly said, “we’re going to take a very different approach to this if you say no again.”
He also said that the chief of police called to tell him that if he goes against his governors’ orders, he will no longer be an officer in the state of Washington.
“I was told by both the agency and my union that this will result in termination due to it being an insubordination charge for refusing to take down the video,” Anderson wrote in the post.
The Port of Seattle Police Department has received a massive backlash due to its actions.
Chief Rod Covey addressed the controversy in a post on the department’s website, saying Anderson “is clearly a good police officer and an exceptional American. That said, as a police officer wearing one of our uniforms, his right to speech has limitations on which he has been well-trained and that he has understood since joining the policing profession.
“Greg has always had the ability to express his opinions on what is going on in the country like all other Americans. However, he is not allowed to do so while on duty, wearing our uniform, wearing our badge and while driving our patrol car. Every police officer in the country understands that.
“I personally told this to Greg and told him that I would support his right to talk about these issues as long as he did so while not claiming any affiliation to our police department. Greg has chosen this course of action even after he and I spoke and while also knowing that his actions were outside of well-established policy.”
It seems entirely probable at this point that Anderson will lose his job, but he has gained the support of millions of Americans across the country.
There is currently a GoFundMe account to support him in securing a lawyer, which his supporters have given over $325,000 so far.
As the battle of citizens’ liberty versus governmental tyranny rages on, it appears that there are still many out there willing to defy orders for the sake of freedom.
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