Salem police: No staff involved in the use of 'Alt-Knight' meme

Salem police did not help create or use a meme that encouraged violence towards protestors, police officials said Friday.

The announcement came after reports tied Salem police to training that incorporated the meme.

The meme, dubbed the "Prayer of the Alt Knight," was used during a training program for Portland police officers responding to protests.

It endorses violence towards protesters, uses profanity and depicts a helmeted person hitting someone. It was used during a PowerPoint on crowd response training for Oregon law enforcement officers.

The meme refers to pepper-spraying and beating a "dirty hippy" who stinks and doesn't pay their bills leaving them "stitched and bandaged."

The uncovering of the meme used in police training was first reported on by Portland-area news outlets and drew national attention.

City and police leaders condemned the use of the meme.

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement that he was "disgusted" that the offensive content was added to a training presentation for police officers.

It remains unclear who added the slide to the presentation. The City of Portland said an internal investigation was underway.

The U.S. Department of Justice chided the city for not releasing the materials earlier in light of the use-of-force settlement agreement the city had with the federal government.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the source of the meme, the Fraternal Order of the Alt-Knights, formed as the tactical defense arm of the Proud Boys and "has become an accelerant for violence at right-wing rallies."

Further reporting by Willamette Week revealed that the meme may have been included in a training jointly taught by four law enforcement agencies: Salem Police Department, Oregon State Police, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Portland Police Bureau.

But Salem police officials said Friday they were not involved.

"We understand the concerns and questions the captioned image raises with our community," Salem police spokesman Lt. Treven Upkes said. "It is important for our community to know that no Salem Police staff was involved in the development or presentation of the offensive graphic."

He said it is unclear whether any Salem officers were present or knew of the meme because details on when the presentation was shown are not definitive.

But if the training occurred in 2018, as some reports have claimed, then Salem had no officers at training during that time.

"Our training records indicate we didn't have any students at the basic crowd management course," Upkes said.

Willamette Week reported that Portland Lt. Franz Schoening said in a deposition that officers attended a state-run basic mobile response team training to join the now-defunct Rapid Response Team, which interacted with protestors during the 2020 racial injustice protests following the murder of George Floyd.

Don't Shoot Portland, a police accountability group, filed a federal lawsuit against the City of Portland over alleged violence used against protesters.

Schoening, a rapid respond commander during the 2020 protests, said in his deposition that the training was delivered jointly by "Oregon State Police, Portland Police Bureau instructors, Salem Police Department instructors and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office instructors."

Schoening said it appeared the PowerPoint slide was used during the training but said the meme was unacceptable and undermined police training.

"It is inconsistent and it's unacceptable," he said, according to the deposition transcript.

Upkes said a statewide basic crowd control training event is commonly hosted by several agencies and attended by officers from across the state of Oregon.

The Salem Police Department provides instructors and instruction material for portions of this multi-day training.

Salem instructors present their own materials and do not routinely co-present or co-produce with other agencies.

Because no Salem staff provided instruction for the presentation at the heart of the controversy, no further investigation from Salem police will take place, Upkes said.

Salem police Chief Trevor Womack said the meme does not reflect the values of the department or his expectation of officers' conduct in the community.

He stressed that police take their responsibility to protect the community seriously while respecting individuals’ right to free speech and assembly.

"Our commitment to strengthening the public’s trust and confidence continues to be our focus and priority," he said.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Salem police: No staff involved in the use of 'Alt-Knight' meme