LONGVIEW — The Longview Police Department is reviewing an officer’s behavior after online viewers complained about an interaction with him and a Longview man caught on video.
Rayshaun Swagerty-Owens, 31, said he was questioned while holding a vigil for a recently passed friend because of his race. Longview police say Officer David Mora questioned him during routine foot patrols around the Highlands. No arrest was made.
Thousands of online viewers watched the interaction in a video Swagerty-Owens, who is a person of color, captured from his cell phone and posted online. Thousands also commented on a video Longview Police Department shared of Mora’s body camera footage during the stop. Many commenters said Mora was disrespectful during the interaction.
As of last week, Mora, who joined the department in 2020, was under review to see if his behavior was part of department policy and he is still on the force, said Longview Capt. Branden McNew.
The vigil
Swagerty-Owens gathered near a bench off Industrial Way with others on the night of Sept. 19 to mourn 26-year-old Celeste Williams, who died in a rollover car accident earlier that day near the Longview location. He said the two “were really close; I’ve known [her] since I was in diapers.”
“My whole point of being there [was] because that was a friend,” he said.
Swagerty-Owens said the loss of his friend was hard. He said he witnessed first responders using a winch to remove the car from the water of a drainage slough and bystanders rescuing the passengers trapped in the mangled vehicle.
That evening, he said he and three of his friends brought candles to the location for the vigil, and he remained at the bench to overlook the candles as they burned “so that nothing would happen to them.”
At least 20 people popped in and out of the vigil to mourn and comfort each other, he added, but the vigil wasn’t stopped until he was alone. He said he felt racially profiled.
In the videos, Mora approaches Swagerty-Owens while he is sitting on the bench and asks what he is doing. Mora then says the candles could be considered reckless burnings and asks Swagerty-Owens to put out them out, which he does.
Swagerty-Owens questions why Mora is shining a bright light on him, but the light is never turned off. Swagerty-Owens says he is just “sitting on a bench,” asks why he is being questioned and tells Mora to have “condelescences [sic] for somebody.” Mora uses a curse word to describe Swagerty-Owens and Swagerty-Owens uses a curse word to describe Mora.
Swagerty-Owens questioned why Mora didn’t know the site was of a recent deadly car crash.
Police say there is a “shift review” three times a day where critical incidents are shared with officers before starting their work day, and McNew said Mora probably was not briefed due to being on supplemental patrol.
Chief Robert Huhta said “officers wouldn’t know the particulars of the investigation,” but that “they would know a fatal collision occurred on Industrial Way,” just not details of the crash.
McNew said the department has been patrolling the Highlands more. People have requested the city patrol the area more in light of suspected crime increases near the Alabama Street homeless encampment.
Video reactions
Swagerty-Owens shared his roughly nine-minute video of the interaction on Oct. 8 on YouTube. YouTube shows about 8,300 users viewed the footage as of Saturday, and many comments were critical of Mora’s behavior. One comment says Swagerty-Owens should submit a formal complaint, and another says the police should respect the people they swore to protect.
The Longview Police Department says they posted Mora’s body cam footage on Facebook on Oct. 14 due to the public’s reaction to Swagerty-Owens’ footage. The department’s eight-minute and 30-second video was shared nearly 300 times as of Saturday and had nearly 3,000 comments. One comment says the officer has “ego issues,” and another says Mora should have tried to better de-escalate the heated interaction.
When the department posted the video, the post also says staff “understand there is a video circulating that has caused anger and disappointment. All Longview police officers are expected to discharge their duties with honor and integrity.”
“I’m concerned the public could come away with a negative view of the police,” McNew told The Daily News.
