Seattle will pay more than 1.5 million dollars due to a legal battle between the city and a former assistant police chief, who was reprimanded for imprinting a Nazi rank insignia on his office door and making insensitive remarks about the Holocaust. 

After a thorough investigation, it was revealed that Kammerzell was well-aware of the meaning of the insignia placed above the nameplate on his office door back in 2020. The insignia, “Obergruppenführer,” a high official in Hitler’s secret police (SS) was responsible for the persecution of millions of Jews and Europeans in World War II. 

The insignia was taken down after multiple complaints. According to co-workers, the former assistant police chief was also known to make Holocaust jokes in the department. 

After the public outrage regarding this incident in 2020, former Kent Assistant Police Chief Derek Kammerzell, a chief for 30 years, was given two weeks of unpaid leave. However, this initial attempt to discipline Kammerzell enraged the Jewish community, who demanded greater repercussions by forcing his resignation. 

In response to this outrage, the city once again attempted to discipline Kammerzell, which ultimately prompted a series of legal disputes between the former police chief’s lawyers and the city. According to the Seattle Times, interim city Chief Administrative Officer and city attorney Arthur Fitzpatrick claimed that the situation was resolved with an ample settlement.

The city’s decision to compel the former officer to resign with a hefty check of 1.5 million dollars. Officers claim that this was essential for his dismissal because even if the city had fired him, he would have been able to reclaim his position under federal and state labor regulations.

In response to Seattle’s settlement, Reddit commenters expressed their anger, with one user stating, “Super cool that taxpayers have to shell it out for this absolute f**king turd. If I lived there the city would be receiving a xerox of my a**crack neatly folded in my property tax return envelope.”

By Emilie Chi