In the hours and days following news that a Seattle Police officer had been shot and killed in the CD, a theory arose which- as far as anyone can tell- has gone un-vetted by the media.
In fact, it seems to have been ruled out entirely that Brenton or his trainee were specifically, personally targeted by accused shooter Christopher Monfort; they were in the wrong place at the wrong time- but not targets.
On the other hand- well, I heard just the opposite; that Brenton “was targeted because he was crooked.”
I’ll stress at the start that there has been no evidence to back this up. In every conversation, I shot the idea down that Brenton was targeted for anything he may have done in the community. It just wasn’t fit to sell. So then, you’d think one would ignore the talk and move on- but it’s not that simple.
I’ve heard this line from youths and those who work with them, probably more than 3 dozen times in the past week- that Brenton was “crooked” and targeted because of it. No one has ever defined exactly what “crooked” means, but I’m sure we can agree that it at least means the opposite of upstanding law enforcement officer. Still, I’m sure we can also agree that “crooked” is in the eyes of the beholder.
Some have said Brenton responded to the Quincy Colman murder Halloween night 08, and the officer “didn’t do anything to help” the situation- many who were friends of Colman admittedly haven’t forgotten. Whether Brenton was a responding officer that night is unconfirmed at this point.
But I couldn’t see a connection between Monfort, “at risk youth” or gang members and Quincy Colman. Monfort was socially awkward at best, and didn’t have strong connections to inner city Seattle. How would he know that Ofcr. Brenton had a poor reputation with a specific population to even target him in the first place, and would he really care what youth were going through with law enforcement? Again- not fit to sell.
Flashback to the arson/bombing incident on October 22nd. 4 SPD vehicles were torched at a maintenance yard. The suspect left behind an American flag, an “army style” knife, a plastic bottle top- and fliers. Though the fliers have not been released, SPD says they included threats to kill police, mentioned crooked cops and even specifically mentioned an incident with a former Sheriff’s Deputy who was caught on camera about six months ago, abusing a suspect in handcuffs- she was a minor. I didn’t understand why the person responsible for the arson would highlight an excessive force example when the deputy in question had already been fired for his conduct. Then I got to thinking- maybe it wasn’t about the incident- maybe it was about the youth.
It’s come to light today that as part of his Master’s work at UW, Monfort was required to complete 100 hours of community service; Monfort spent his service hours at Juvenile Detention in Seattle- not far from the shooting and not far from where he was pulled over and cited by SPD for an expired insurance card weeks before the shooting.
Conversations with folks I know over at juvie revealed 1 thing; Monfort was respected and liked by the youths, and that in the course of teaching his class, conversations about SPD weren’t out of the norm. Youths often vented their frustrations with the criminal justice system, with police in general, and with specific cops known amongst their circles to “hassle” people on the street. In Monfort- the youth had a sympathetic ear; in the youth Monfort had an eager audience to share his views on the system.
So again, that so many youth across Seattle (some of who go in and out of juvie) share this opinion about Brenton, particularly his conduct the night of the Colman murder (if he was in fact there at all), that some interacted with Monfort at juvie, and that they held a grievance in general but particularly about Quincy Colman, and readily knew Brenton by name, and that both shootings happened Halloween night…
There seemed to be nothing that would tie these mismatched pieces together until now; Juvenile Detention. Did Monfort communicate with area youth in juvenile about specific cops they felt were crooked? I am not suggesting in any way that Brenton was a bad cop. I am also not suggesting Monfort actively worked with youth to target certain officers (though he could have), but it’s not impossible to think he may have at least heard certain officer’s names in his conversations.
Bottom line- it could all be nothing. Or, it could be something.
This morning the police mentioned finding child porn in Monfort’s apartment. Assuming that is true, how would that fit in this puzzle?