National
Rogue deputy chief poses as protester and curses about cops at Fargo rally, police say
A rogue assistant police chief seen wandering among protesters as an undercover officer has resigned, Fargo city officials say.
Fargo Assistant Police Chief Todd Osmundson is accused of creating “danger for himself and any officer who may have needed to come to his aid” at a Black Lives Matter protest in the North Dakota city over the weekend, officials said.
“This is a serious matter and we are dealing with it quickly. Having a sworn person — whether they are an officer in uniform or a member of my command team acting on their own — operating independent of operations planning is unacceptable and dangerous,” Police Chief Dave Todd said. “Deputy Chief Osmundson has accepted full ownership of his actions.”
Osmundson was suspended for one week without pay on Thursday. The 31-year veteran of the police department resigned later in the day.
On Saturday, demonstrators in Fargo protested against police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a black man, while in Minneapolis police custody, the Associated Press reported. The protest turned violent in the evening as “dozens of protesters went face-to-face with police in riot gear for a couple of hours while others lobbed water bottles at the officers,” the AP reported.
Police officers complained about seeing Osmundson among protesters, questioning why he appeared to be drinking a beer and shouting “f--k the cops,” according to an email obtained by the Grand Forks Herald.
In the email to the police department, Osmundson admitted his undercover actions did not have the police chief’s permission nor follow protocol. Osmundson said he wore plain clothes and monitored “agitators,” took photos for potential investigations and watched for weapons.
Osmundson wrote that he grabbed an empty Coors Light can off the street and looked in vehicles for guns while saying in “a casual, low voice, ‘yah, f--k those police,” he wrote in an email.
“Obviously nobody wants a riot,” Osmundson wrote. “Nobody wants to go rescue a cop. I took actions that forever many within this department will call me stupid. That is probably just, I can’t argue that. But as they say, we should (avoid) casting ‘stones’ ... until you walk in someone’s shoes or hear the whole story in context before judging.”
Comments