West Virginia Police Officer Suspended After Racially Charged Video Surfaces

Prosecutors are now reviewing all pending criminal cases involving a Charleston, W.V., police lieutenant who was suspended last month when a racially charged video surfaced of his young daughter dancing to a song popular with the Ku Klux Klan as the officer allegedly eggs her on off camera.

The officer, Shawn Williams, a 16-year veteran of the department and the head of the patrol division, allegedly can be heard on the video using “derogatory racial language,” according to The Charleston Gazette, which interviewed two people who said they saw the recording.

On the video, which was discovered on Williams’ home computer, the girl is dressed in police-style clothing and, according to the Gazette, dancing, to a KKK anthem that includes the lines, “Stand up and be counted, show the world that you’re a man. Stand up and be counted, go with the Ku Klux Klan.”

The mayor of Charleston, Danny Jones, would not say what was on the video because of the ongoing investigation. “There have been allegations made and there’s some evidence,” Jones told Hatewatch today. “But the investigation hasn’t matured yet.”

Jones said the video was given to the police department by a source he would not name. “Williams is going through a sticky divorce,” he added.

Jones said someone outside of the department also leaked the story about the video and the internal police investigation of Williams.

Williams, the mayor said, “cut a wide swath as a city police officer. He looked the part. He carried himself well.”

Jack Kessler, a prominent defense lawyer in Charleston, said he talked with Williams in recent days about the case and will likely represent him. Kessler said the department has charged Williams with violating the law enforcement code, the Charleston Police Department mission statement and of unbecoming conduct.

Williams, the son of a state trooper, was placed on paid administrative leave in late September.

In a news release Thursday, the office of Kanawha County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Plants said he had ordered a review of all of Williams pending criminal cases. During the review and investigation, the release said, Williams will not be relied upon as a witness in any of the cases.

Jones, the mayor,  said his office would not cooperate with Plants, the prosecuting attorney. Plants has legal trouble of his own for allegedly beating his 11-year-old son with a belt.

Plants, according to the Gazette, was charged with domestic violence in the incident and a circuit court judge has barred his office from handling charges similar to the ones Plants’ faces. Plants, the mayor said, could be removed from office soon.

“We’ll talk with a prosecutor, just not that prosecutor,” the mayor told Hatewatch, adding that the police have been working closely on the Williams investigation with one of Plants’ tops assistants. “We just had a meeting with them, but Plants wasn’t allowed in the room.”

Hatewatch called Plants today, seeking a comment, but he did not return the call.

Jones said Charleston has 162 police officers, but only 10 are black. He said in recent weeks, police chief Brent Webster has been meeting with black ministers about maintaining and improving good police community relations after watching the turmoil in Ferguson, Missouri. Jones said he hoped the recent controversy within the Charleston department will not hinder those efforts.

One of the ministers at the recent meetings with police was the Rev. Ronald English, who Martin Luther King Jr. mentored as a boy and young man in Atlanta. “We’ve felt very good lately, that we’ve come a long way in developing a connection and communication with the police,” English said. “This incident really seemed so strange. It’s not something we expected. The chief wants to support his officers. At the same time he’s been supportive of the African American community. He’s in a delicate position.”