Cop Accused of Flashing White Power Sign at Oregon Protest Cleared After Being Investigated by Other Cops

In addition to generally being trash, cops are also really fucking weird. They’ll publicly decry claims that they’re racist but in private will be in Facebook groups saying some truly vile shit. Apparently, they know that being racist is bad, but instead of not being racist, they simply lie about it. Take for instance a cop in Oregon who this weekend was seen on camera allegedly throwing up the white power signal at a Black Lives Matter protests.

NBC News reports that after investigation by Oregon State Police, the cop in question has been cleared. At a July 4 Black Lives Matter protest that took place in Salem, Ore., at the state capitol, a group of counter-protesters showed up to the event, and one of the counter-protesters was allegedly pushed to the ground by one of the protesters. In video that was live streamed on social media, the officer in question can be seen going up to the counter-protesters and flashing the “OK” sign which according to the Anti-Defamation League, is used to indicate “white power” among white nationalist groups. After flashing the sign, the officer can be seen being pat on the back by a counter-protester.

“Best available evidence indicates the trooper was simply checking on the man’s status and used the universal signal to signify this inquiry, which the man gestured he was—then patted this trooper and a second trooper on their shoulders in an apparent signal of appreciation,” Oregon State Police said, stating that due to the noisy environment as well as the fact that the officer was wearing a face covering, he resorted to using hand gestures.

I’m going to safely assume that the cop was using sign language through the entire exchange, if this truly was the case.

Joe Smothers, the man who captured the exchange, told NBC News that some of the counter-protesters may have been Proud Boys, a far right group that has been labeled a hate group according to Southern Poverty Law Center. “Proud Boys and the armed militia planned to disrupt the protest and have been putting out a call to arms for the past week,” Smothers said. He added that the counter-protesters could be seen flashing the “OK” sign throughout the day.

So the counter-protesters were possibly far-right extremists who allegedly had been flashing the white power sign all day but, according to the cops, there is absolutely nothing sketchy about a cop flashing the sign to that same group of people.

Sure, Jan. Sure.