Representative Abe Hamadeh (R-AZ-08) asked the Trump administration last Wednesday to rescind its report criticizing the Phoenix Police Department (PPD), which came about as a result of violent protesters complaining about their interactions with officers. He sent a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel requesting a halt to the “desperate witch hunt,” which could end up putting the PPD in a consent decree with the federal government under monitoring. The Trump administration said in January that it is pausing all civil rights investigations into law enforcement agencies.
Hamadeh said in the letter, “Despite the Biden DOJ’s baseless claims, our officers did everything right, voluntarily cooperating in good faith, opening their records, and participating in lengthy interviews. They were met with stonewalling, mischaracterized testimony, and a final report riddled with glaring inaccuracies. The Biden DOJ’s claim that Phoenix Police Department officers violated constitutional standards during unrest following one of President Trump’s rallies was absurd. That claim is especially ludicrous because the Ninth Circuit affirmed that the department’s actions were lawful. The Biden DOJ ignored this and many other court-backed facts, choosing instead to cherry-pick narratives that support their political agenda.”
Hamadeh concluded in the accompanying press release, “Congressman Hamadeh believes that by rescinding the DOJ’s report on the Phoenix Police Department, the Trump administration will send a powerful message that political interference has no place in law enforcement, and that America First principles now govern the day.”
The DOJ investigation began after the rioting over the death of George Floyd, and included a review of the violent protesting at a Trump rally in downtown Phoenix in 2017. Prosecutors charged Antifa with gang charges after the Floyd riots, sparking anger from the radical left.
The DOJ claimed in the report, which was issued last June, that it found probable cause after a three-year investigation that the PPD violated the First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments when dealing with the public. The DOJ accused PPD of using excessive force, discriminating against nonwhites, treating homeless people unlawfully, violating the First Amendment, and discriminating against the mentally ill.
In response, PPD published the records and videos related to the incidents cited in the DOJ’s report, in order to provide a fuller picture. They revealed that the report left out a lot of pertinent details. For example, the DOJ used confusing language regarding disabilities, implying that regular people with traditional disabilities were encountering hostile situations with the police, not people with drug problems who were engaging in violence.
An attorney for the Arizona Conference of Police and Sheriffs (AZCOPS) released his own videos refuting the report. Steve Serbalik showed how the report left out evidence that exonerated officers. In some of the incidents cited, the DOJ failed to describe violent behavior by suspects leading up to the confrontations with officers.
The City of Phoenix refused to enter into a consent decree with the DOJ, which means the DOJ would need to take the city to court in order to enforce one. Then-Representative Ruben Gallego sent the DOJ a letter urging against a consent decree. PPD has already begun implementing 37 reforms recommended by the DOJ.
Under Democratic presidential administrations, the DOJ investigates police departments, issues reports on its findings, and often strong arms them into consent decrees agreeing to be monitored. The Obama administration bragged, “In the first five fiscal years of the administration, the department has opened more than twice as many investigations than were opened in the previous five fiscal years.” The Biden administration launched 12 investigations of law enforcement agencies. In contrast, consent decrees were halted during Trump’s first term.
Last September, the Pinal County Attorney exonerated all of the officers involved in the anti-Trump rioting that took place, as well as former Maricopa County prosecutor April Sponsel, who prosecuted Antifa for engaging in the Floyd protest. However, Sponsel lost her job when the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office changed course and refused to stand by their initial support for the prosecutions. She was suspended by the State Bar of Arizona for two years.
In January, a jury exonerated PPD Lieutenant Benjamin Moore in a lawsuit by progressive activists accusing him of violating their rights by arresting them in retaliation for protesting ICE.
A former Maricopa County prosecutor familiar with the DOJ investigation told The Arizona Sun Times, “The Biden DOJ was never interested in the truth — and neither were those at the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office who fed them misinformation to justify this so-called investigation. It’s not about accountability — it’s about control and using false narratives to advance political careers.”
A longtime PPD officer told The Sun Times he suspects the DOJ has a template that they use to target police departments “city by city.” Another PPD veteran revealed to The Sun Times, “One sergeant in particular has been under criminal investigation for four years. He was assigned to home for 32 months and recently was put again under criminal investigation for baseless claims. In the history of the Phoenix Police Department, he is the longest person ever to be under investigation and the longest ever to be assigned to home for no policy violation nor criminal violation! He led the Trump riots and the summer of 2020’s grenadier teams and has been vilified by Biden’s DOJ.”
The Trump administration may reverse two consent decrees that were finalized in the last weeks of the Biden administration with law enforcement agencies in Louisville, Kentucky, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The Maricopa County Sheriff’s Department (MCSO) is still under a consent decree with the DOJ over allegations of racial profiling under previous Sheriff Joe Arpaio. It has been embroiled in the investigation and subsequent consent decree for 14 years, costing county taxpayers over $300 million so far.
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Rachel Alexander is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Rachel on Twitter / X. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Rep. Abe Hamadeh” by Rep. Abe Hamadeh and “Phoenix Police Office” by Phoenix Police Department.
