Officer who shot Mexican farmworker in
Washington state resigns
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[June 23, 2015]
SEATTLE (Reuters) - One of three
police officers who shot dead an unarmed Mexican farmworker in
Washington state, triggering protests akin to those after police
slayings in other U.S. cities, has resigned from his job amid an
investigation into the videotaped struggle.
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Pasco Police Department officer Ryan Flanagan was one of three
patrolmen who shot and killed farmworker Antonio Zambrano-Montes at
a busy intersection in the southeastern agricultural city on Feb. 10
after police said the undocumented immigrant threw rocks at the
officers.
In a two-sentence letter to police and city officials, Flanagan said
he decided to resign effective July 2, bringing to an end 10 years
of service in the department.
His attorney, Scott Johnson, said he accepted a project management
job for a home builder in the Pasco area and broader state.
"As a result of going through the whole experience, he and his
family decided law enforcement might not be something he wanted to
continue on in," Johnson said. "While they were considering that,
this (job) opportunity came up."
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/Jun/23/images/ads/current/gives_you_more_bch_040314.png) Zambrano-Montes' death was captured on video and the majority Latino
community has likened it to police slayings of unarmed black men in
Ferguson, Missouri, and New York. Hundreds took to the streets to
demonstrate against policing tactics in the town more than 200 miles
(322 km) southeast of Seattle.
Zambrano-Montes' family and civil rights groups have called for a
federal probe, and the U.S. Justice Department said it was providing
training to Pasco police.
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Flanagan had come under scrutiny for his patrol tactics before. In
2012 ,Pasco settled a 2012 lawsuit for $100,000 brought by a woman
who said Flanagan and another officer shoved her face against a
patrol car and twisted her arms behind.
There was no word on the plans of the other officers, one of whom,
Adam Wright, came to the immigrant's aid during a house fire a month
earlier.
A coroner's inquest could begin later this summer, after which a
county prosecutor will decide whether to bring charges against the
officers.
(Reporting by Eric M. Johnson in Seattle; Editing by Lisa Lambert in
Washington)
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