Seattle, Sep 15: Demanding justice for Indian student Jaahnavi Kandula and the resignation of two Seattle police officers, more than 200 people from different communities held a rally at an intersection where she was struck and killed by a speeding police patrol car.
Kandula, 23, was struck by a police vehicle driven by Officer Kevin Dave when she was crossing a street on January 23. He was driving at 74 mph (more than 119 kmh) on the way to a report of a drug overdose call.
In bodycam footage released on Monday by the Seattle Police Department, Officer Daniel Auderer laughed about the deadly crash and dismissed any implication Dave might be at fault or that a criminal investigation was necessary.
More than 200 people on Thursday took to the Seattle intersection where Kandula was fatally struck by an officer’s cruiser in January, the Seattle Times newspaper reported.
They called for accountability for the officer who killed her and for a police union leader’s comments about the crash, which some described as “disgusting” and “abhorrent.”
Participants at the rally in South Lake Union called for the resignation of Auderer and the officer who struck Kandula, Dave.
Speakers at the rally criticised the police system, saying it is built on white supremacy, and the criminalising and undervaluing of the lives of Black and Indigenous people and other people of colour, the report added.
Signs read “Jail killer cops,” “Justice for Jaahnavi,” and “End police terror.” People living in nearby apartments came to join the crowd.
Seattle resident Rafael McPeek said he hoped to send a message that police officers can’t get away with killing someone while speeding through city streets or making comments questioning the value of someone’s life.
“It’s absolutely disgusting,” said McPeek, a member of the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, which organised the rally.
Another rallygoer, Kyla Carrillo, expressed anger at the number of months that have elapsed without accountability for Kandula’s death.
“I don’t understand how many times the Seattle Police Department can show us they don’t care about people’s lives,” she said.
Auderer, the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, reportedly on a phone call with Union President Mike Solan, appears to talk about what might happen if the victim’s family sued the department.
“Yeah, just write a check. USD 11,000. She was 26 anyway. She had limited value,” Auderer said during the call.
In response, Governor Jay Inslee said on Thursday, “It’s hard to think of more hurtful things to say to magnify the scope of an already terrible tragedy than what is said in that video.”
“I was heartbroken. I was disgusted,” said Joel Merkel, a co-chair with the Seattle Community Police Commission.
The officer who hit and killed Kandula has not been criminally charged. (PTI)
