Current Events Vent: Seattle Police Officer Assassinated, October 31st 2009

CLICK ON THE TITLE TO READ BLOG ARTICLE!!!!!!Current Events Vent: Seattle Police Officer Assassinated, October 31st 2009

Officer Brenton's Suspected assassin Identified, shot, and in critical condition!

One of my regular readers, and commenter recently left a comment from a future police officer's perspective. I do very much appreciate her honesty and openness with her opinion. I can tell she had a very strong opinion on this guy, and understandably so. In no way am I trying to make this out to be any less tragic than it sounds. I only push hard, because I believe any death or injury in the legal system is a tragedy!


The newest revelations show many points that contradict your statements. Before I go any further with my opinionated reply to your statement; I want to commend you for being willing to "change" American law enforcement. By enrolling yourself as a law enforcement officer, you will be in a position to be the officer, that is both moral, and still able to do their job. I personally think it is a hard thing to do, for even the most seasoned officer.

I really hope you can accomplish this. I think you will have to dig deep in your soul to accomplish this. I know that in my soul, it would be a constant contradiction between job performance and equal rights to all citizens.

So on the same note; I have to take a moment to commend all of the men and women of law enforcement, that take individual rights to the same level as cleaning up the streets.

So I start my response in the following paragraphs.

At no point has "crack" or "meth" came into play,at this time. I do believe my thoughts were the same at first. The recent memorial service and parade in the honor of our fallen officer, along with the $105,000 reward gathered to help find the killer.

1.)The killer may have had a passenger, but at this point, I do not want to get into that yet.

2.)The killer is just a suspect with a bullet in his head right now.(1 of 3 )

3.)The suspect is a 41-year-old man named, Christopher J. Monfort.

4.)The suspect is educated as a former student at Highline Community College and the University of Washington.

5.)Christopher J. Monfort was described by former teachers and friends as "mature" and "smart."

6.)Mr. Monfort was employed as a security guard or private investigator(One of the two)

7.)All Seattle Detective officers knew at the time was; They were trying to talk to him, he fled, they tried to catch him. And when he produced a weapon, that's when it became a whole different situation. They had to fire to protect themselves, ( This is as I understand from reading quotes of Tukwila Officer Mike Murphy)

8.)In November 2003 Monfort ran for student government at Highline Community College, according to the student paper, The Thunderword.

Monfort was running to "make the student body more aware of the civil liberties lost under the Patriot Act," the article said. "If elected, his first priority is to help people become active citizens instead of just bystanders."

***This is an Article I would love to read.**

In 2007, he attended the University of Washington and studied law enforcement. While there he wrote a paper about how to "change the inequity of the criminal justice system."

****This is one paper I would love to read**

Monfort is also suspected for involvement in the Oct. 22 arson of four police vehicles, three police cruisers and one mobile command vehicle, Pugel said.

Monfort's personality was described , by others, as smart, fun, mature and even stable.


Monfort was running to "make the student body more aware of the civil liberties lost under the Patriot Act," the article said. "If elected, his first priority is to help people become active citizens instead of just bystanders."

Garry Wegner, Monfort's student adviser during his time at Highline, described him as "a mature, stable, fun guy to be around. ... He was very smart," Wegner said.

Rosemary Stevens, Monfort's former landlady when he lived in Southern California 18 years ago, said she believed he applied for a job with the Los Angeles Police Department at the time, but he was never hired. This means he was 23 years old. ( The same age as the Lake Stevens officer that shot , and killed, the home intruder last month.



The Seattle police have declared a desire to keep their debriefing private and out of the media, for reasons unknown at this time.


In conclusion; The person believed to be a Black, stupid, drug addict, with an animal like moral fiber, has turned out to be an educated, civil rights minded vigilante.

Weather Christopher's intentions were, Law Enforcement reform oriented, civil rights minded, or equality in the eyes of enforcement; I think we can all agree that his actions actually cause a less free state in Seattle.

For the few days following the shooting, and prior to the arrest of Mr Monfort; All of the police agencies were fishing for Identification from as many walkers, runners, sitters and drivers on the streets and sidewalks. Leaving no stone unturned involved checking as many citizens as possible for Identification, cash, criminal possession and actions. (provoked or not)

This man acted a fool. To believe that his Killing of ( his intended) two officers, would have accomplished anything for his cause, was out right absurd, to say the least. He has accomplished nothing more than making the entire city potential suspects, and nearly enacting martial law!

What a dumb ass!(Monfort= dumbass, not U my friend)

Snohomish County Police officer involved shootings, often yeild no charges. 5/6 this year alone.

In the last year, there have been six, officer involved shootings. In an ever changing society, armed officers are more and more necessary. The real question is; When has the shoot first mentality gone too far?

In the Everett, Herald they listed four other shootings other than this one.

Other recent officer-involved shootings
Since November, Snohomish County law officers have been involved in four other shootings, each ending in death. The cases remain under investigation by a special team of detectives pulled from police departments around the county.

Nov. 8 08
Everett police fatally shoot Dustin Willard at his Everett home. Police were responding to a reported burglary in process.
Status: The investigation continues. The officers involved have returned to duty.

January 25 09
A Mill Creek police officer shot and killed a man while investigating a report of a car prowler, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office reported.


May 29 09
A Verlot man, Daniel Wasilchen, is fatally shot in front of his home by a Snohomish County deputy and a reserve deputy. Police are called after a reported dispute with a weed-abatement official.
Status: Detectives continue to investigate. The two deputies have been cleared to return to patrol.

June 10 09
Everett police fatally shoot Niles Meservey behind the Chuckwagon Inn. The Stanwood man reportedly was intoxicated and trying to drive away. Officers reportedly tried to subdue the man with a stun gun as he sat at the wheel of his car.
Status: Detectives continue to investigate. The officer involved remains on paid leave.

July 2 09
Snohomish County deputies shoot an Arlington man after 911 was called about a domestic violence case.
Dwight Monnie, 64, died later at a Seattle hospital as a result of gunshot wounds.
Status: Detectives continue to investigate. The two deputies were placed on paid leave.

Aug 7 09
Lake Stevens at Highway 9 and Soper hill road a driver of a white pickup was shot by an officer, and pronounced dead on the scene. There was a gun found at the scene, but with no details as to where it was at the time of the shooting.

It has gotten to the point where citizens might rather be car jacked, instead of pulled over by law enforcement.

The county has organized a group of internal investigators under the acronym SMART. In five of the six cases all of the officers were released back to patrol. The SMART group has been under a lot of pressure to hand the people a case. I believe this is rightfully so. In the other cases there have been no mention of discharged weapons, except from the police. We spend millions looking for non-lethal weapons, but still resort to killing people. There needs to be a change in procedure. With police acting as Judge, Jury, and Prosecution-er; There is no correction of behavior.

So what defense do the people, of America, have against the people we hire, to keep us safe. Legislature has a system of checks and balances. Neither system works. Every day, in the United States, another law is passed, taking the rights away ,from the people. I believe the power should be with the people, but seldom do the people stand up to take it.

The people were turning their heads through all, of the police killings. Very little revolt has taken place. Now, the owner of a Corvette has gained enough attention to gain respect. The SMART, investigators have found themselves in a position where they had to hand a head, on a silver platter. Is it that the financial standings of this man has made the populous believe it could happen to any of us. It is about time.

We need to change the shoot first policy. Charging this officer with first degree manslaughter is the first step, in the right direction. I am sadly disappointed that the maximum penalty is five years. I think it is hardly a deterrent to firing a weapon at the citizens. I feel like law enforcement has forgotten who they are to protect and serve.

I understand that the police are faced with different scenarios daily. It is hard for them to decide what is considered a threat to their safety, and what is not. A high centered Corvette is not a threat to any one.

In addition to the eight rounds fired into the drivers compartment (seven on target); The words muttered just before the discharging of the weapon was said to be. "Let's finish this right here." Almost makes this premeditated. I do not believe the officer intended to kill the citizen when he arrived for work; but I also do not believe the officer has a conscious desire not to kill people either.

We are at the mercy of each officers individual morals every day; and although we know there are crooked cops, we keep telling ourselves, they are upholding the law.

Does the law say we should die, before we kill? We all have the potential to kill; so are we all to be shot before we get out of hand? The TV show COPS shows what the police want us to see, and even that seems out of control. Often they show four cops on the back of one guy, yelling "Stop Resisting", while they club, tazer, and compress the subject into the ground. The subjects arm pinned beneath four guys as they continue to yell " PUT YOUR ARM BEHIND YOUR BACK! STOP RESISTING!"

As clients of the corporation called "Law Enforcement" should we not be treated as people, in the very least. I understand the need for people to be subdued; so I stop short of calling that abuse. Murder on the other hand is unacceptable. Maybe we have to take the guns away from the cops, and give them batons only. It works in England.

It is time to take a stand. Work together to stop this " License to kill belief" and retrain our policemen and women. We can no longer believe that they have the morals that prevent death, but we must insist those morals are instilled.