Officer Cynthia Whitlatch on Tuesday was fired from the Seattle Police Department.
Whitlatch garnered some unwanted attention last July when she arrested William Wingate, a 69-year-old Black veteran for leaning on a golf club as a cane. According to Whitlatch, the man swung the club at her; however, subsequently released video footage showed that no such incident occurred and that Wingate was simply standing on the sidewalk.
According to Whitlatch’s disciplinary letter, signed by police chief Kathleen O’Toole, “Despite his non-threatening behavior, you repeatedly chose confrontational options, continuing to make accusations regarding what you claimed to have seen him do, threatening him with arrest, and holding your nightstick in your hand, further escalating the interaction.”
