SAN JOSE — A police officer who was fired for controversial tweets about the Black Lives Matter movement is getting his badge back, despite objections from local civil rights activists and his own department.
The city was served noticed Feb. 8 of an independent arbitrator’s decision to reinstate Officer Phillip White, said city spokesman David Vossbrink, adding that White’s first day back was Feb. 10.
White was fired in October after drawing national attention for tweets that were widely viewed as threats, including “Threaten me or my family and I will use my God given and law appointed right and duty to kill you. #CopsLivesMatter” and “By the way if anyone feels they can’t breathe or their lives matter, I’ll be at the movies tonight, off duty, carrying my gun.”
In a statement Thursday, Acting Police Chief Eddie Garcia said state law allows police officers to participate in binding arbitration to determine whether discipline imposed on them, including dismissal, is justified.
“While the city and department disagree with the arbitrator’s conclusion, we respect the process and will move forward with reinstatement,” Garcia said.
“The department recognizes that the individual character and excellence of each department member reflects upon the department,” he continued. “Therefore the department will continue to expect each of its members to maintain a high ethical standard and provide equitable treatment for all its citizens.”
Garcia said White’s reinstatement was not made public until Thursday because officials were working with the officer’s attorney to ensure the disclosure did not violate his privacy or personnel rights and also to notify the police department’s Community Advisory Board.
White has been assigned administrative duties and will assist in the police department’s body-worn camera rollout, police said.
White did not immediately return a call for comment. Before the tweets came to light, he was a well-regarded member of the police department and was heavily involved in youth outreach, particularly with anti-gang programs.
News of White’s reinstatement disappointed and angered local civil rights activists, who said it could set back the police department’s efforts to forge stronger relationships with minorities.
“I think it’s a disgrace for San Jose,” said Raj Jayadev, director of Silicon Valley De-Bug, adding that he wanted to know why the arbitrator “opposed the will of the community,” including the police department and police union, both of which condemned White’s tweets.
The Rev. Jethroe Moore, president of the Silicon Valley NAACP, said the arbitrator “just told my community that black lives don’t matter, the fact that you can threaten a black life does not matter.”
Even though White won’t be patrolling the streets, Jayadev and Moore said there was still cause for concern.
“It’s no comfort he’s on desk duty,” Moore said. “He still has to come back and forth to work, and he’s still carrying a firearm.”
Moore said he planned to coordinate with other civil rights activists in the coming weeks to plan a response, which could including putting an initiative on the ballot to change the law that allowed White to get his badge back.
“We must change that police officers’ bill of rights so they cannot continue to hide behind it when they do wrong,” he said.
In the meantime, Jayadev and Moore said White should resign.
“If he was honorable, he would quit and get the heck out of San Jose,” Moore said. “He would leave.”
Staff writer Robert Salonga contributed to this report. Contact Jason Green at 408-920-5006. Follow him at Twitter.com/jgreendailynews.
