PLAYING DEFENSE

Seattle Police Say Pepper Spraying of 7-Year-Old Was ‘Lawful and Proper’

Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability claims that the pepper spray was intended for a woman who “grabbed onto” an officer’s baton but “inadvertently” hit the child.

Seattle’s Office of Police Accountability is defending the pepper spraying of a 7-year old boy at a Black Lives Matter protest, saying it was “lawful and proper,” according to a report in the New York Daily News. The OPA claims that the pepper spray was intended for a woman who allegedly “grabbed onto” an officer’s baton, but it “inadvertently” hit a young child behind her as well. “OPA understands that this decision will be unpalatable to some and perhaps to many,” the report stated. Videos and photos of the incident show the injured boy’s eyes doused with milk to cancel out the pepper spray chemicals. The images circulated on social media, prompting 13,000 complaints and the passage of a preventative ordinance. “This is one of the hardest cases that I, as the OPA Director, have had to consider during my nearly three years in office,” OPA Director Andrew Myerberg said.