Yesterday, LifeZette reported about a Port of Seattle police officer whose viral video imploring all cops to uphold the Constitution throughout many government-imposed and oppressive “orders” led his police command staff to detach him from duty.
Police Officer Greg Anderson took a stand and uploaded a roughly nine-minute video recorded while he sat in his police cruiser. Albeit initially supported by Port of Seattle Police command staff, within a handful of hours those same executives revered course and ordered him to take down his video. Ultimately, he stood his constitutional ground. Subsequently, his police chief barked. Currently, he is home and without a job to support his family after standing up for what he believes in, the very thing he swore an oath to uphold: The U.S. Constitution.
In that regard, many Americans’ personal constitutions were unsettled by this cop’s prolific publication of government figureheads asking cops to do unspeakable things—unconstitutional things.
An outpouring of support flooded Anderson’s social media accounts. A GoFundMe page set up by a family supporter soared within hours of its launch. Currently, it chronicles $342,000-plus (and mounting as of this writing).
From this, though, is a bittersweet factor: Anderson’s supporters —citizens who stand with his constitutional messaging— are taking up his fight but in a way which is counterproductive and potentially detrimental to Seattle-area residents who may have dire need for emergency services.
The Port of Seattle Police Department (POSPD) reports it has since been deluged by Anderson-supporters calling via 9-1-1 emergency lines. Presumably by some cohorts at the POSPD, Anderson was informed that roughly 100 9-1-1 calls per hour have been streaming in to the police communications center, tying up lines and otherwise distracting police dispatchers from effectively processing genuine emergency responses. (This writer has been in a 9-1-1 operators chair for several years many moons ago, and can attest to the misplaced influx of citizens wanting non-exigent matters mitigated via emergency lines.)
Today, Greg Anderson posted another viral video, a hybrid message mixing gratitude with a plea for folks to choose more-appropriate alternate methods of contacting his now-former police brass. Listen to Mr. Anderson’s plea:
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