Entire SWAT Team in Florida City Resigns in Response to Police Chief Kneeling with Black Lives Matter Protesters

Sonia Quinones kneels with protesters; photo via Miami Herald An entire SWAT team in Hallandale Beach, Florida resigned on Friday in res...

Sonia Quinones kneels with protesters; photo via Miami Herald

An entire SWAT team in Hallandale Beach, Florida resigned on Friday in response to Police Chief Sonia Quinones kneeling with Black Lives Matter protesters.

The police chief scheduled a meeting for Monday with the officers who resigned to hear their complaints.

In a memo, the SWAT officers said in addition to being under trained and minimally equipped, they were outraged to see the police chief kneeling with political activists.

“The team is minimally equipped, under trained and often times restrained by the politicization of our tactics to the extent of placing safety of dogs over the safety of the team members,” the officers wrote.

“Lastly, and most shockingly, having members of the Command Staff taking a knee in solidarity with Vice-Mayor Javellana (who stated she wants the officers “fired and charged”) and a handful of political activists…” the officers wrote in a memo.

Via Miami Herald:

The 10 members of the Hallandale Beach Police Department’s SWAT team have stepped down from their roles, citing among other grievances anger over the city’s police chief kneeling with protesters earlier this week, a memo the officers signed read. They will remain with the police department.

On Friday evening, Hallandale Beach received a memo from the members of the SWAT team with a list of grievances, Hallandale Beach City Manager Greg Chavarria said.

In the memo, the officers say the SWAT team was minimally equipped, under trained and restrained. The memo says the safety of dogs was given priority over the safety of the officers at times.

“The risk of carrying out our duties in this capacity is no longer acceptable to us and our families,” the memo says. “The anguish and stress of knowing that what we may be lawfully called upon to do in today’s political climate combined with the team’s current situation and several recent local events., leaves us in a position that is untenable.”

According to the Miami Herald, SWAT officers from other local police agencies will fill in to help Hallandale Beach.

This is just the beginning. More and more police officers will resign and cities will crumble under chaos and violence.