The San Jose Police Department said Thursday a review by the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office has found controversial tweets by one of their veteran police officers "troubling" but not criminal.
SJPD Officer Phillip White, who has been on the force 20 years, was placed on administrative leave last month while the department investigated threatening comments from his Twitter account about demonstrators who participated in protests over the recent deaths of unarmed black men in Ferguson, Missouri and New York.
In the now-deleted tweets, first published by Buzzfeed, White wrote: “If anyone feels they can’t breathe or their lives matter, I’ll be at the movies tonight, off duty, carrying my gun."
In another, he vowed to use his “God-given and law-appointed right and duty to kill” if threatened.
White's comments created a social media firestorm, with White's department, union and Menlo College, where he coached basketball, all condemning the comments. Police watchdog group Silicon Valley De-Bug launching an online petition demanding White be fired. De-Bug's Raj Jayadev said Thursday their main goal now is getting White off the police force.
“There’s no way to have positive community and police relations when you have someone like that spouting out such vitrial actually carrying a gun and a badge," Jayadev said.
But SJPD said that a prosecutorial review by the Santa Clara County DA's office concluded the messages did not threaten specific individuals.
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“The officer’s 'tweets' were inappropriate and unprofessional,” DA Jeff Rosen said. “Communicating something disturbing is not a crime, unless it is an intentional and specifically-aimed threat. Civil communication between the police and members of the public is important in establishing and maintaining trust. We all share the priority of keeping our community safe from criminals."
SJPD said in early December, White sent a series of messages from his Twitter account expressing displeasure at the property damage that came in the aftermath of grand jury decisions in Ferguson, Missouri and the death of Eric Garner in New York.
White then received a number of "vitriolic responses," some with slurs and threats, on Twitter as well as his voice mail at Menlo College, prosecutors said.
He "responded to these perceived threats" by posting the two controversial tweets, according to prosecutors.
San Jose Police Are Reviewing An Officer’s Behavior After His Threatening Tweet To Protesters http://t.co/kHaGa1iIPD pic.twitter.com/hXmkYVJRmD — BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) December 14, 2014
SJPD's investigation failed to find anyone who specifically felt threatened by White's tweets, including those who had initially responded to his initial tweets.
A violation of Penal Code 422 (Criminal Threats) requires a prosecutor to prove beyond reasonable doubt:
- The defendant willfully threatened to unlawfully kill or cause great bodily injury to another
- The defendant intended the statement be understood as a threat
- The threat was clear, immediate, unconditional and specific
- The threat has to cause another to be in sustained fear for their own safety or that of their immediate family
- And the fear was reasonable under the circumstances
NBC Bay Area's Damian Trujillo contributed to this report.
