Seattle officers who went to Jan. 6 rally say they weren’t part of violence

Hundreds of investigative documents released by the Seattle office of police accountability show that four officers who fought for years to keep their identities secret insisted they did not see or participate in the MAGA-driven violence that rocked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The officers spent nearly four years fighting the release of the investigative files and their identities in a legal battle that twice reached the U.S. Supreme Court before they suddenly dropped their lawsuit this summer. That resulted in the release last week of more than 1,000 pages of documents accrued during a months-long investigation that began when a colleague shared a photograph from social media showing two Seattle officers who were at the rally.

The officers in that selfie, Caitlin Rochelle and Alexander Everett, a married couple who transferred from a police agency in Texas to Seattle in 2017, were eventually fired by then-Seattle police Chief Adrian Diaz after investigators found they stood by during an active insurrection” that included “rioters assaulting law enforcement officers and making forced entries into the building.”

The other four Seattle officers who attended the so-called “Stop the Steal” rally were identified as Sgt. Jacob Briskey, a K-9 handler and 17-year department veteran; Detective Sgt. Michael Settle, a 22-year veteran and member of the department’s human trafficking squad; patrol Sgt. Scotty Bach and officer Jason Marchione, who joined SPD in 2016 from the Atlanta Police Department.

All of these officers were cleared of serious wrongdoing. Two of them, Briskey and Marchione, remain on the police force, according to KUOW, which first reported on the release of the investigative documents.

Records show these officers self-reported their attendance at the Jan. 6 event after Diaz and former OPA Director Andrew Myerberg opened an investigation into the involvement of Seattle police officers at the rally-turned-riot. It’s been reported that the Police Department had the largest known contingent of officers to attend the event in the country.

All six officers were compelled to give extensive statements to an OPA investigator under threat of termination. The Seattle Police Officers Guild sharply opposed the investigation, and guild representatives read statements to that effect at the beginning of the interviews.

While the statements varied, all stated that the guild “fully condemns the violence that happened on January 6th at the Capitol” and that people who participated in the insurrection “should receive due process and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”

The FBI and Department of Justice charged more than 1,500 people and secured nearly 1,200 convictions before President Donald Trump, on his first day in office of his second term, issued sweeping pardons for nearly all of them.

SPOG officials objected to the compelled interviews “based on the fact that this is violating … First Amendment rights and (the officers’) protected political activity.”

The officers all insisted they were there as citizens participating in the political process, not as law enforcement officers. All said they had left their guns, badge and commission cards at home.

Settle, the 22-year veteran, was particularly incensed that he was under investigation and subject to threats and ridicule, even as he and the officers sued to keep their identities from the public. He told OPA investigators that he was involved in nothing more than “normal tourist behavior” and resented being interrogated about it.

“I know … that it will look like, ‘why don’t you want to cooperate and just show us that you didn’t do anything,’ ” he told OPA Sgt. Tracy Beemster. “I have a hard time with that one,” he continued, remarking that he had to defend himself when he “did nothing wrong.”

“At no time did I represent the department or tell anyone that I was part of the department. I was just with two buddies and we did not have interactions with people.”

Likewise, Briskey told investigators that he did nothing to undermine the department that day. He listened to the president’s speech with tens of thousands of people who attended the rally. “I didn’t have on any political attire that would show political affiliation or leaning one way or another. I was respectful and courteous and didn’t partake in any illegal activity or riotous behavior.”

Nor did he witness anyone else involved in illegal behavior, he said. In retrospect, Briskey said that if he had known what was going to happen, “I wouldn’t have been in the city.”

During the march on the Capitol, a large contingent of Proud Boys – a far-right, neo-fascist organization known for its misogynistic and anti-Semitic rhetoric – were present. Briskey said he and a friend were near the Reflection Pond on the Capitol Mall, on their way to a tavern, when he believes that group passed.

“From a police officer’s perspective, and I don’t remember if I heard Proud Boys or not, but I don’t want to be anywhere around those groups of people,” Briskey said. “Unfortunately, these people did whatever they did. And, you know, we happened to be in the area just before so, yes, I understand that looks bad. But we in no way, shape or form knew that it was going to happen, had any inclination it was going to happen, you know, nor did we take part in any of that stuff.”

Briskey said he and Settle went from the Mall to the Penn Quarter Sports Tavern, about a block north, where they ate and drank and eventually saw televised news reports of the insurrection. About 2:30 p.m. that afternoon, the mayor of the District of Columbia called for a curfew, and Briskey said they returned to their hotel room.

Everett and Rochelle, who both were fired for their actions that day, claimed they did not know they had trespassed and said they did not witness any violence or illegal behavior, despite evidence presented by investigators to the contrary. One video clip shows them standing nearby as rioters scaled scaffolding and walls near the Capitol steps.

“I went to exercise my First Amendment rights,” Everett insisted, arguing he was being discriminated against for his political ideology. “We didn’t engage in any crimes, no fights, no arguments. We stood there and listened to the sitting president talk. And I’m currently under investigation for that.”

Mark Grba, deputy director of investigations at OPA, questioned how Everett and Rochelle could “unknowingly” find themselves “at the forefront of … a riot, of violence of break-ins … closer than 99.999% of the people without knowing what was happening.