By Erica C. Barnett

Matthew Didier, the Seattle police lieutenant who was caught on body camera footage encouraging his fellow officers to “fuck people up” at a counterprotest during the far-right “Mayday USA” rally in Cal Anderson Park last year, has received a written reprimand for his actions that day. Didier’s statements to his fellow officers, who he said would be “going in with guns blazing” and were “here to fuck people up now,” have made him a symbol of police intolerance to the city’s LGBTQ+ community, which turned out to protest the anti-trans event held, provocatively, in the middle of Seattle’s historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood.

PubliCola broke the story about on the light disciplinary decision, made by interim Police Chief Andre Sayles, on Bluesky Friday afternoon.

The video of Didier’s directives went viral earlier this year.

“We are about to do some fucking work, but we’re going in this time with guns blazing and all our pieces in place. We we we are past talking to people. We’re here to fuck people up now,” Didier can be heard saying in the footage. “We’re done with these guys doing this shit. They’ve pushed the envelope, and now they’re going to get the full fucking deal.”

Officers responded violently to the counterprotests. During the event, police used pepper spray and other “less lethal” weapons against demonstrators, throwing many to the ground and arresting 23 people. SPD officers also used bike rack-style barricades to prevent protesters from entering the rally area and arrested people for pushing against or knocking over barricades that had been linked together and placed at the top of a hill.

On Friday night, Interim police chief Andre Sayles issued a statement saying he followed SPD’s principle of “progressive discipline” in issuing a written reprimand to Didier. Sayles noted that Didier had only “minor prior disciplinary history” and that his decision fell “within the range” of what the Office of Police Accountability recommended.

In Seattle, complaints about police officers, except the police chief, go through OPA, a semi-independent body (it’s housed in the police department) that reviews each complaint. If OPA decides a complaint is warranted, it will sustain the complaint and recommend discipline to the chief, who ultimately makes the call.

According to the closed case summary for thje investigation, OPA found that Didier had acted in an “unprofessional, escalatory, and disrespectful” manner.

Didier’s “statement appeared to reflect an intent to use impermissible force against the counter protesters. Such a viewpoint undermines public trust in [Didier] and SPD because it erodes the legitimacy of SPD’s objective to uphold every individual’s constitutional rights and created an impression that [Didier] viewed the purpose of officers being ‘here’ was to “fuck people up.”

The OPA recommended light discipline for Didier, ranging from an oral reprimand to two days’ suspension.

In a statement to PubliCola, SPD cited mitigating factors for the decision to give Didier a slap on the wrist, noting that he “voluntarily participated in the Sentinel Event Review. The employee was forthcoming and engaged with community panelists. The employee accepted responsibility and willingness to learn from their actions,” an SPD spokesperson said.

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However, the investigation shows that Didier made many excuses for his behavior and statements, including short staffing at SPD, the fact that officers were called to police the counterprotest on short notice, and a supposed incident from 2020 when, according to OPA’s summary of Didier’s explanation for his actions, “officers had to stand in line, observe crimes, and take no action.”

In his statement, Sayles said the sentinel review “made clear that our department did not understand the depth of concern within the LGBTQ+ community before this event, and that our actions that day damaged trust. I accept that finding.”

“We have already begun this work, and we will continue it. That includes acting on the OIG’s recommendations, strengthening our crowd management practices, expanding the work of our LGBTQ+ liaison and advisory council, and engaging directly with community organizations before — not after — events that affect them.”

Last December, Sayles filed a sweeping OPA complaint against a longtime officer who spoke, with SPD’s permission, at a rally against two anti-LGBTQ initiatives. In the complaint, Sayles said he believed the officer was spreading “inaccurate and untrue things” about the initiatives. (The first initiative would ban trans girls from playing children’s sports; the second would give parents access to all notes about conversations their kids had with trusted adults at school.) The source of Sayles’ information, it would turn out, was right-wing podcaster Brandi Kruse, who ran an online campaign to get the officer fired. Kruse volunteers and raises money for the campaign behind the two initiatives.

The OPA dismissed two other complaints against Didier—one alleging he and other officers failed to use de-escalation tactics, and one saying he targeted a protester because of their political views or perceived LGBTQ+ status. “SPD officers, including [Didier], were on site to support everyone’s rights to free speech and peaceably assemble, enforce the law, preserve order, protect people, and preserve property,” the OPA report says.

A “Sentinel Review” of SPD’s response to the counterprotest, conducted by the city’s independent Office of the Inspector General, concluded that SPD officers demonstrated a bias against counter-protesters who showed up to demonstrate against the right-wing event, referring to protesters as “transtifa” and assuming “that the rally organizers represented no real threat, while assuming that “‘black bloc’ and ‘antifa’ are established, hierarchical organizations intent on inciting disorder and criminal activity.”

In a statement, Mayor Katie Wilson said in a statement: “Like many people in Seattle, I was disturbed to see what occurred at the protests at Cal Anderson in 2025. I’ve spoken with Interim Chief Sayles to understand the disciplinary measures taken in this incident. It is the role of the Seattle Police Department to serve and protect the people of Seattle, and to do so with respect, dignity, care, and consideration— especially for our most vulnerable community members. I will continue to work with the leadership of SPD to ensure that the culture of the department fully reflects and upholds my expectations and this commitment.”