TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A jury has acquitted a Washington county sheriff in a case involving his confrontation with a Black newspaper carrier.
The Seattle Times reports a jury on Wednesday found Pierce County Sheriff Ed Troyer not guilty on misdemeanor false-reporting charges.
Troyer, who is white, had been charged in October 2021 by the state attorney general’s office with one count of false reporting and one count of making a false or misleading statement to a public servant.
Closing arguments Tuesday clashed over whether Troyer was a “great man” wrongfully accused, or a liar whose false claims of death threats “weaponized” a massive police response against the newspaper carrier.
