Demonstrators in Seattle have demanded the resignation of two police officers over the death of a student from India and callous remarks by one of them.
Protesters march through downtown Seattle after body camera footage was released of a Seattle police officer joking about the death of Jaahnavi Kandula, a 23-year-old woman hit and killed in January by officer Kevin Dave in a police cruiser, Thursday, Sept.
14, 2023, in Seattle. – Outrage grew Friday over a Seattle police officer's remark that the life of a young woman killed by a speeding patrol car had “limited value." Diplomats from India are asking for an investigation following the death of the Indian graduate student as people in Seattle protested the officer's callous jokes caught on bodycam video. The footage released this week shows Officer Daniel Auderer, vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, joking with the rank-and-file police union’s president after a different officer's speeding police car on Jan. 23 slammed intoProtesters on Thursday evening gathered at the Seattle intersection where the 23-year-old graduate student was fatally struck by Officer Kevin Dave's SUV. The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office is conducting a criminal review of the crash.. Dave had been driving 74 mph in a 25 mph zone on the way to an overdose call.as he called Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan to report what happened. In a recording released by the police department on Monday, Auderer laughs and suggests Kandula’s life had “limited value” and the city should just write a check for $11,000. At the demonstration on Thursday, 5-year-old Layla Allibhai sat atop father Mo Allibhai’s shoulders while holding a sign saying: “I have unlimited value. So did Jaahnavi.”“I think this has galvanized people because it’s so blatant and disrespectful to put a value on a human's life at $11,000," Patricia Hunter, co-chair of the, said in an interview Friday."And it galvanizes people to see that the culture at Seattle Police Department has some issues that need to be immediately addressed.” Hunter's commission was formed to hold police accountable, along with the Office of the Inspector General and the Office of Police Accountability. Hunter said its next step is to work with those partners to see what charges might be brought in the case, what policies might have been broken and"to amplify the voices of the community which are enraged over this video, so that justice can be done.”tweeted that it has taken the “deeply troubling” matter up with authorities in Seattle and in Washington, D.C., and that it wants a thorough investigation and action against those involved. Newspapers in India have been following the case.“We are aware of, and are disturbed by, what was said about Ms. Kandula’s death in the bodycam footage recently released by the Seattle Police Department,” the State Department said. “We would like to take this opportunity to express our sincere condolence to Ms. Kandula’s family and loved ones.” The Seattle Police Officers Guild said in a statement Friday that it understands the outrage caused by the “highly insensitive comments.” “It sullens the profession of law enforcement, the reputation of all Seattle Police officers and paints Seattle in a terrible light,” the union said. “We feel deep sorrow and grief for the family of Jaahnavi Kandula as this video has revictimized them in an already tragic situation as they continue to mourn her death. We are truly sorry.” But the union noted that the bodycam footage captures only Auderer's side of the conversation: “There is much more detail and nuance that has not been made public yet.” Solan, who had been on the other end of the call with Auderer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Auderer, in an Aug. 8 statement he provided to the Office of Police Accountability that the union released Friday, said Solan had lamented the death and that his own comments were intended to mimic how the city's attorneys might try to minimize liability for it. “I laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and the ridiculousness of how I watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy," Auderer wrote. “I understand that without context the comment could be interpreted as horrifying and crude."Kandula was from Andhra Pradesh, a state in India’s southern coastal region. Relatives told The Seattle Times that Kandula came to Seattle so she could one day support her mother back home in India. Kandula was on track to receive a master’s in information systems this December from the Seattle campus of Northeastern University.Selsky reported from Salem, Oregon. Lindsey Wasson in Seattle and Matthew Lee in Washington, DC, contributed to this report. Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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