US

Officer Who Displayed Nazi Insignia Will Receive Over $1.5 Million To Resign

REUTERS/Alexandra Winkler

Mary Rooke Commentary and Analysis Writer
Font Size:

An assistant investigations chief in Washington state is being paid over $1 million to resign from his position after being disciplined for taping a Nazi symbol on his office door.

The city of Kent will pay former Assistant Chief Derek Kammerzell $1.5 million to resign after being reprimanded in July 2021 for hanging the symbol for the rank of Obergruppenführer, a position in the SS in Nazi Germany, above the nameplate on his office door in September 2020, reported The New York Times (NYT).

City officials conducted an internal affairs investigation into Kammerzell after an officer reported the Nazi display, which concluded with the former officer receiving a two-week suspension and mandatory training, according to the city of Kent’s statement.

The officer who reported the insignia told investigators that Kammerzell often made jokes about the Holocaust, including a frequent favorite about his grandfather dying as a Nazi camp guard, reported the NYT.

The city of Kent defended its decision to allow Kammerzell to keep his position, saying that it is “confident” an independent arbitrator would have ruled to allow him back onto the force, the NYT reported. (RELATED: Seattle Implodes After Defunding The Police)

Kammerzell served on the city’s police force for 27 years without previous discipline or community complaints before this incident. The city placed Kammerzell on paid administrative leave and asked for his resignation in December 2021 when the community renewed their calls for him to be removed from the police department, according to NYT.

“When [Kammerzell] was placed on leave, we made a statement that he would not be returned to work. We also noted that under federal and state law, the City was unable to terminate the Assistant Chief or otherwise change the discipline imposed based on double jeopardy principles. As a result, we noted that his resignation would come at a high cost to the City,” the city said in a statement.

Kammerzell initially demanded $3,112,317 for his resignation, but settled with the city of Kent for $1,520,000, reported the city.

“While this is a substantial sum, we strongly believe that settling this matter will be a substantial step towards meeting our commitment to the community and continuing with the excellent work the Police Department is doing,” the city stated.

Kent Police Chief Rafael Padilla talked about the effect the investigation had on the rest of the officers in a video released by the city in January. “It’s been devastating to our department,” Padilla said.

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel