As cases of police brutality against people of color, media and legal observers continue to spike nationally, today Mayor Jenny Durkan reminded Seattle residents of the dire need to thoroughly wash their hands of any responsibility for halting law enforcement’s excessive use of force.
“I find the best way to wash your hands of responsibility for the unconstitutional way our local police force treats people is to first throw your hands up and look the other way,” said Durkan in an afternoon press conference. “If anything bad happens while you were busy looking away, act like you wish you could have done something about it even though you couldn’t. And if people keep telling you that you totally could have done something about it, just keep emphasizing how powerless you are to change things. If I can do it as mayor of a city where I’m free to appoint and fire who leads our local police force, anyone can.”
Durkan admitted washing your hands of the moral responsibility to be your brother’s keeper isn’t always so easy, though.
“Sometimes people begin the process of having you officially recalled on the next election ballot,” Durkan said. “In a tight spot like that, keep on legally challenging your city’s residents right to do that to one judge after another because, just like the police force, it’s very unfair to be held accountable for hurting local residents through action and inaction.”
When reporters asked what she would be doing to make the police accountable for reducing excessive and often fatal use of force, Durkan responded by washing her hands on the spot.
“In the words of Bart Simpson, it was like that when I got here.”
