Bend police officer under investigation after accusations of extremist speech
The Bend Police Department chief said one of his officers was being investigated after showing a gun rights movement slogan on duty.
Cpl. Joshua Spano was photographed over the weekend with the Latin phrase “Molon Labe”, which means “come and take” "While quoting a vocal Bend police critic.
Activist Mike Satcher is currently involved in a lawsuit with Bend over access to police records. Spano quoted Satcher on Saturday for criminal assaults during the activist's volunteer efforts to provide food and shower to unhodged people. After the interaction, members of Satcher's group, the Central Oregon Peacekeepers, distributed Spano's photo along with screenshots from his personal social media accounts that contain images that are often used by far-right groups.
A submitted photo by Cpl. Joshua Spano in Bend on May 1st, 2021.
Emily Cureton
A screenshot from a 2013 post shows a statue of liberty leg tattoo with gun and silencer. The entry is entitled: "Love my country, hate my government." An article by Spano from 2017 shows a collection of patches next to a notebook cover that reads: "People To Kill". One of the patches contains the Roman number "iii", a favorite of the anti-government militia group Three Percenters. Alleged members of the group from Texas and Colorado are charged with participating in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Last December, Spano also appeared to be using Instagram to promote stickers - an image of an assault rifle in the style of the Patagonia fish logo. The sticker was visible on a colleague's clipboard months earlier when the police responded to clashes of political demonstrations that turned violent.
The view of the front seat of a police cruiser at Pilot Butte Neighborhood Park in Bend on October 3, 2021, when violence broke out between clashes of political demonstrations.
Emily Cureton
Spano appears to have two Instagram accounts. One is for his side business, Sage Steppe Outdoors. The stickers were advertised in the same language on both social media accounts. In the statutes filed with the Oregon Secretary of State last year, Sage Steppe Outdoors mentions its headquarters as the main district address for the Bend Police Department.
Spano has set the accounts to private. OPB was unable to independently review his posts and he could not be reached for comment.
Mike Krantz, police chief of Bend, said the "Molon Labe" item photographed on his uniform over the weekend, which appears to be a bunch of keys, "is incompatible with the uniform."
"It is also claimed by several, I don't know who makes these statements, that it somehow supports extremist ideologies," said Krantz of the Latin phrase. "There is no place in the police for extremism or violent ideology."
Krantz told OPB that he was unaware of the content on Spano's social media.
A submitted screenshot of an Instagram post linked to Bend Police Cpl. Joshua Spano shows a collection of patches. The Roman numeral "III" is often used by the three percent, an anti-government militia group.
Emily Cureton
"We will conduct an internal review and investigate whether there are policy violations," said Krantz. "Nobody is on administrative leave."
The guidelines of the Bend Police Department contain strict uniform protocols. They also prohibit the wearing of any part of the uniform to “support, support, oppose or contradict any social problem, cause or religion”, unless authorized by the police chief. The policy manual states that employees' language, expression and social networks are subject to reasonable restrictions, with the rights of each employee being carefully examined.
The Anti-Defamation League monitors extremism across the ideological spectrum and, according to its website, provides resources for officials to identify and counter emerging threats. Mark Pitcavage, an analyst at the nonprofit Center for Extremism, checked out the images from Spano's social media.
"ADL would consider a three percent badge on a police officer's personal vehicle to be problematic and a sign of extremism," Pitcavage said. "It should be investigated and appropriate action taken."
The "III" patch appears to have been made by a clothing brand that is marketed to military veterans. Spano's social media accounts identify him as an experienced combat medic. Many of the other patches seen on social media are military in nature, Pitcavage said.
State records indicate that Spano was with the Medford Police Department from 2008 until he joined Bend in late 2015. Spano left Medford after several incidents of violence.
A Bend Police cruiser responds to clashes of political demonstrations in Pilot Butte Neighborhood Park on October 3, 2020.
Emily Cureton
In June 2014, Spano assisted an Oregon state police officer, Gregor Smyth, with an undocumented man from Mexico who was unable to drive, according to reports from InvestigateWest and Pamplin Media. The newspaper found eight minutes of audio from Smyth's recorder and recorded what sounded like a violent brawl that took place after suspect Roberto Santana-Park was reportedly handcuffed. The OSP officer made a violent announcement when he radioed a supervisor to be there. Santana-Park's wife told a reporter that when she released her husband from prison, she had a goose egg over one eye, cuts on his eyebrow and lips, and an injury on a wrist that left a scar.
All charges against Santana Park would later be dropped. The reporter noted that in a brief narrative he filed with Medford Police, Spano did not report violently, which meant the administration never investigated the incident.
Shortly after Spano was hired in Bend, a federal judge also dismissed an independent complaint alleging excessive violence in an incident involving a theft suspect in 2014.
A spokesman for the Bend Police did not respond to questions emailed about whether these incidents or Spano's social media were reviewed as part of the hiring process. That year, Oregon House passed HB 2936, which, if passed by the Senate, would require the creation of a unified background check process for hiring law enforcement agencies across the state. The bill would also oblige law enforcement officers to give employers access to social media accounts.
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