US cop, who joked about Indian student's death, says comments taken out of context

The Seattle Police Officers' Guild, on Friday (September 15), defended its official who made insensitive remarks about Indian-origin student Jaahnavi Kandula earlier this year, saying that some of the videos of police that have been shared, do not fairly elucidate the context of the story.

"The video captures only one side of the conversation. There is much more detail and nuance that has not been made public yet," the Seattle Police Officers Guild said in a statement.

It also released a letter written by its officer Auderer in which the latter said that he intended the comment as a mockery of lawyers.

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In the letter dated August 3 to the Office of Police Accountability, Auderer said he laughed at the ridiculousness of how these incidents are litigated and the ridiculousness of how he has watched these incidents play out as two parties bargain over a tragedy, as per news agency PTI reports.

"At the time I believed the conversation was private and not being recorded. The conversation was also not within the course of my duties," he wrote in his letter to Gino Betts, director Office of Police Accountability.

University toaward Kandula her degree posthumously

The Northeastern University released a statement saying that itwill award Kandula her degree posthumously.

Chancellor of the University, Kenneth W Henderson made the announcement and reaffirmed that the probes that have been initiated in the incident will bring a measure of justice and accountability.

“The university plans to award Jaahnavi her degree posthumously and present it to her family,” the university stated on its Facebook page.

The university further added that the friends and family members of Jaanhavi are enduring the “additional pain” of new developments related to this tragedy. It also called the remarks by the Seattle police officer “callous and insensitive”.

“We also recognize that our Indian student community, across all Northeastern campuses, has been especially impacted by this tragedy and its aftermath. We stand in solidarity with you and have every expectation that the ongoing investigations will bring a measure of justice and accountability,” the statement read.

It also recalled the time when the Seattle campus community joined together in a surveillance of remembrance and solidarity, after the incident earlier this year.

It then stated that it would be convoking campus gatherings to allow the community to join together in harmony next week.

Kandula hailed from Andhra Pradesh and was pursuing a master’s degree from the Northeastern University campus in South Lake Union. She was set to graduate in the month of December this year.

The 23-year-old student was hit by an overspeeding police vehicle earlier in January this year. The police car wascruising at a speed of 120 mph

A video released by the Seattle Police Department on Monday (September 11) showed a police officer laughing and making insensitive commentsabout the accident.

In the video, which has now gone viral on social media, Seattle Police Officers' Guild Vice President Daniel Auderer can be heard saying, "She is dead" before bursting out into laughter and referring to Kandula as "a regular person".

Towards the end, the officer says, "She was 26 anyway, she had limited value", getting her age wrong.

After India raised the issue, senior officials in the Biden administration have reportedly assured that prompt action would be taken against the ones involved.

(With inputs from agencies)

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