Officer fired for
ties to biker gang sues Capitol Police for discrimination
The
Capitol Police Department is facing a discrimination lawsuit after it dismissed
one of its officers due to his affiliation with an allegedly racially charged
motorcycle gang with ties to the Hells Angels.
On
April 20, former Lt. Gregory Turner filed suit against the Capitol Police in
D.C. District Court, as well as current and former members of the Capitol
Police Board including police chief Phillip Morse, Architect of the Capitol
Stephen Ayers, Senate Sergeant at Arms Terry Gainer and former House Sergeant
at Arms Bill Livingood.
Turner
alleges he faced age and race discrimination, as well as denial of due process
and violations of freedom of speech and association, when he was suspended and
later dismissed for his affiliation with the Southern Maryland Tribes
Motorcycle Club (TMC).
A
TMC member since 1998, Turner claims the Capitol Police never challenged his
participation with the group until the Federal Bureau of Investigation took
notice in 2007 as part of their own investigation into alleged criminal
activity against Turner and two other Capitol Police employees. The FBI never
filed charges.
Turner
describes TMC as a “responsible, civic-minded organization that affects
positive change in the local community,” according to the filing. But the U.S.
Secret Service viewed the gang quite differently in the lead up to the 2008
presidential inauguration.
The
FBI surveillance data of Turner and another Capitol Police officer within TMC
caused concern for the Secret Service as they prepared for the inauguration,
according to news reports.
Officials
asked that Turner and his colleague not cover the Capitol as President Obama
took his oath of office. When the Capitol Police failed to take immediate
action, Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan involved then-Homeland Security
Secretary Michael Chertoff, who reportedly threatened to take the matter to
members of Congress.
In
March 2009, the Washington Post quoted a senior federal official close to the
situation as saying that the swearing-in of the nation's first black president
was not a time to take chances.
In
his filing, Turner alleges that he was placed on administrative leave pending
an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General. The OIG subsequently
concluded that Turner’s involvement with TMC — which it called a “domestic group
with white supremacist views” — amounted to conduct unbecoming, improper
associations and outside employment, and his employment was terminated.
Turner also took the opportunity to air some
of the department’s dirty laundry. In bolstering his claim that younger
employees were given preferential treatment, Turner mentioned a 2010 incident
in which a Capitol Police officer allegedly brandished a firearm and spewed
racial epithets at a family while intoxicated. The officer was later charged
with felony reckless endangerment and assault, but was only suspended from duty
for 40 hours, according to the complaint.
Turner
cited a second incident involving an officer who reportedly discharged a
firearm in his house, accidentally shooting a taxi-driver, then one year later
breaking into a woman’s home while under the influence. He was later returned
to active duty following a 30-day suspension, the claim alleges.
Turner
also claims his race — Caucasian — was a motivating factor in his termination
after the Black Capitol Police Association “pressured” the department to take
action against him due to his alleged involvement with white supremacists. In
the department’s attempt to demonstrate “equal treatment,” they meted out
“unreasonably harsh discipline to one of those white” employees, he asserts.
The
Capitol Police allegedly failed to take comparable action against
African-American employees, Turner continued, citing the mere suspension of an
officer for looking at pornography while on duty and the failure to terminate
an officer after he was caught “in the company of a transvestite prostitute,
who managed to relieve him of his agency-issued firearm.”
Turner
maintains that the Capitol Police failed to provide him the opportunity to
respond to the charges of misconduct prior to his dismissal, and violated his
right to free speech as well as freedom of association.
The
terminated officer seeks the reversal of the Capitol Police decision and asks
to be restored back to his former position, as well as awarded all back pay and
benefits. Turner is also seeking up to $300,000 in compensatory damages.
A
spokeswoman for the Capitol Police declined to respond to questions regarding
the lawsuit, citing the department’s ongoing policy to not comment on pending
litigation.