Sheriff charged with falsely reporting Black newspaper carrier to police
Ed Troyer, then the Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman, answers questions during a news conference in Tacoma, Wash., on
Feb. 18, 2020. (Ted S. Warren/AP)
By Adela Suliman
Today at 7:01 a.m. EDT
A sheriff in Washington state has been charged with two misdemeanors for falsely accusing a Black man delivering newspapers in January of making threats against him — an incident that led to a significant police response in a suburban neighborhood.
The Washington state attorney general’s office on Tuesday charged Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer, who is White, with one count of false reporting and one count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, the office said.
In the early morning of Jan. 27 in Tacoma, Wash., Sedrick Altheimer, a Black newspaper carrier in his 20s, was working his route in his car and making deliveries to homes when he noticed a white SUV that appeared to be following him.
Altheimer asked Troyer, who was driving the vehicle, if he was a cop, according to court documents. Altheimer in the documents said Troyer did not answer, nor did he identify himself as the sheriff or a law enforcement officer.
Troyer, who lived in the neighborhood, then accused Altheimer of being a thief and called him a “porch pirate,” the filing said.
Troyer subsequently called 911 and told a dispatcher multiple times that Altheimer had “threatened to kill me,” so he blocked him in
with his car. The call resulted in over 40 law enforcement officers from multiple agencies descending on the scene.
When they arrived, Altheimer pointed to newspapers stacked on the back seat of his car and told officers: “I am working! I’m a Black man in a White neighborhood and I am working!”
Troyer, who was elected sheriff in November 2020, has denied any wrongdoing or that he had racially profiled Altheimer. The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In April, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee (D) referred the criminal investigation of Troyer to the attorney general’s office, which this week filed the charges in Pierce County District Court. If convicted, Troyer could face a sentence for both offenses of up to 364 days in jail and up to a $5,000 fine.
“The initial reports of these events were very concerning to me, and I had hoped to see some action taken to initiate a criminal investigation at the local level. But, to my knowledge, that has not happened almost three months after the incident,” Inslee said at the time. “So now the state is stepping in.”
Troyer told The Washington Post earlier this year that he began following the driver before he knew he was Black and insisted that Altheimer had threatened him but that he decided not to pursue charges. He also added that he had not been the subject of any complaint for excessive use of force in more than three decades of policing.
Troyer has criticized this week’s charging decision, calling the attorney general’s investigation “a blatant and politically motivated anti-cop hit job,” according to the Seattle Times.
The Washington Black Lives Matter Alliance welcomed the charges this week and called for Troyer’s resignation.
“Incidents like Sheriff Troyer’s potentially deadly lies to fellow officers should also routinely receive independent investigations. Moreover, police incidents such as these must be independently prosecuted,” the group said in a statement. They added they had filed a complaint against Troyer with the Department of Justice and would be “advocating for an independent prosecutions bill in the 2022 legislative session.”
Attorneys representing Altheimer filed a tort claim against Pierce County in June, the Associated Press reported, alleging that Troyer’s actions amounted to “racial profiling, false arrest and unnecessary use of force.” The claim, a precursor to a possible lawsuit, seeks millions of dollars in damages.
A sheriff’s deputy grabbed a Black woman by her hair and repeatedly slammed her to the ground, video shows
The population of Pierce County, Washington’s second-most populous county with over 900,000 residents, is roughly 74 percent white and 7 percent Black, according to latest government census figures.
The news there, however, has echoes across the United States more than a year after millions of people took to the streets to protest the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Despite the conviction of former police officer Derek Chauvin in April, many activists say they have seen little substantial change in their communities and are seeking broader reforms.
Elsewhere in the country, New York City’s police watchdog agency said earlier this week that more than five dozen officers should be disciplined for misconduct during the racial justice protests in the summer of 2020 sparked by Floyd’s murder.
The recommendations issued Monday by the city’s Civilian Complaint Review Board are the latest rebuke of the New York Police Department’s response to the demonstrations in May and June 2020, during which officers were seen using violence to disperse peaceful protesters. Officers in Denver, Austin, Santa Rosa, Calif., and other places have also faced punishment for roughing up individuals who rallied peacefully after the killing of Floyd.
