- After 2017 protests, some Phoenix officers circulated a coin showing a protester being shot in the groin.
- The coin, shared after a Trump rally, said: "Making America great again one nut at a time."
- The police chief's punishment was a stern letter.
The chief of Phoenix Police Department has been given a so-called "written reprimand" after it emerged that some of her officers circulated a "MAGA"-styled challenge coin celebrating shooting anti-Trump protesters in the groin.
Coins of this design were shared between officers following a 2017 visit of then-President Donald Trump to the city, a new report said. "Challenge coins" are commemorative coins distributed between police and military personnel, usually in connection with a heroic action.
According to the report released by the City of Phoenix Thursday, the coin included the phrase "Good night left nut," which is strikingly similar to a phrase used by neo-Nazi groups, "Good night left side."
They were circulated between officers following protests in response to Trump's August 22, 2017, rally, which was a time of high tension.
Just a week earlier, white nationalists had gathered in Charlottesville, Virginia, for the "Unite the Right" rally that was rife with antisemitic and neo-Nazi sentiment.
In Phoenix, the protests against Trump's visit turned unruly, with police firing pepper spray at crowds, as the Associated Press reported at the time.
Among the crowds was Joshua Cobin, a protester who was arrested after kicking a smoke canister back at the police. They responded by firing a powder round into his groin, the report said. An image of Cobin getting injured this way quickly went viral.
That image was incorporated onto the coin, which read: "Making America Great Again One Nut at a Time" on one side, echoing the pro-Trump slogan "Make America Great Again," the city's report said. It was clear, the report said, that the officers understood its political implications.
"Coupled with the coin's derogatory depiction of a protestor injured while demonstrating against former President Trump, the coin can fairly be viewed as conveying both the disparagement of protest activity as well as an endorsement of former President Trump," the report concluded.
But the report said that the fact that the reverse of the coin — with the phrase "Good night left nut" — bore a striking resemblance to neo-Nazi embems was a coincidence, saying the officers had been unaware of the connection.
The person who designed the coin was never identified, the report said. Phoenix PD had been "aware of the challenge coin in real time and took limited investigatory steps," the report said.
Police chief Jeri Williams received a letter of reprimand over the matter, which said the officers' actions had "damaged the reputation of the department itself," adding that she should take "immediate action" to address failings.
Williams affirmed that no officer named in the report would be allowed to serve in the force's Tactical Response Unit, used for policing protests, or be recommended for an upcoming senior role. Williams was also told to update hate speech guidance.
In tandem with the coin investigation, the city of Phoenix commissioned another report into the heavy-handed charging of a group of protesters as gang members at the 2017 protest.
For this, Williams was suspended for a single day, and a police sergeant and three assistants chiefs were reassigned, Fox 10 Phoenix reported.
In a statement, Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix said she was "disheartened and deeply disappointed" by the report's findings.
The city's police union, the Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, released a statement saying they "stand with" the department, adding: "We are in the process of a critical review of the findings to determine whether the disciplinary actions against a number of Phoenix officers are warranted," Fox10 Phoenix reported.
