The former Seattle Police Department officer who was caught on body camera video making light of an incident where an officer fatally struck a pedestrian insisted his comments were taken out of context.
Daniel Auderer addressed the controversy
Monday during an appearance on The Jason Rantz Show. It was Auderer’s first public interview since a police officer struck and killed Jaahnavi Kandula as she entered a crosswalk in South Lake Union in Janaury 2023.
Auderer, who was responding in another cruiser, was caught joking about the incident on his body camera, saying to his colleague, “Yeah, just write a check,” followed by laughter. He continued to say, “She was 26, anyway. She had limited value.”
Auderer was on a phone call with Seattle Police Officers Guild President Mike Solan, whose role in the interaction has never been publicly detailed. In September 2023, Solan insisted he and Auderer were remarking on “how the city is going to have to pay out a ton of money to the family.”
During Monday’s radio appearance, Auderer said his comments were never meant to make fun of Kandula or her loved ones.
“I’ve spent too much time and seen way too many things to mock anyone’s death and I’m horrified that family is continually pounded by this story,” he told Jason Rantz. “It weighs on me and it’s something that will never, ever go away in my soul.”
Instead, Auderer insisted his comments were meant to mock the attorneys hired by the City of Seattle to look into the case. Auderer said he believed those lawyers would attempt to avoid reaching a settlement with Kandula’s family.
As a result, he said that he and Solan joked about their belief that the legal process would be stymied by certain legal officials. Auderer then maintained that the joke was merely “gallows humor.”
Despite this, he insisted his department-issued body camera only captured one side of that conversation.
“You have to remember that this is a free-flowing conversation between two people,” he said. “We could take a phone call of anybody in this office that they make today and take one side of it and build whatever we want around it.”
Auderer’s first public interview occurred one month after he was fired from SPD. At the time of his termination, SPD Chief Sue Rahr cited his conduct as a reason for his firing.
“It has been quite striking to me the number of people I talk with in this community who feel the dehumanizing laughter was more disgraceful and disturbing than the death of Miss Kandula,” Rahr wrote. “There is no coming back from such a betrayal of that sacred trust.”
In Monday’s interview, Auderer said his termination caught him by total surprise.
“It was not only my career, but a way of life for me and it never crossed my mind I’d be in the position to be terminated. I thought I was going to be disciplined,” he said. “I was expecting the ‘high end’ of the discipline due to the media coverage this received. The allegation itself normally doesn’t ever have a real, high threshold for discipline.”
Two weeks after his firing, Auderer filed a $20 million claim against the city of Seattle.
In the claim, Auderer said SPD leaked false information concerning “wrongfully initiated disciplinary proceedings as well as my personal information, including my home addresses.” Auderer also insisted he was wrongfully terminated by the department, noting the decision was retaliatory due to his union leadership.
Auderer cited personal reputation harm, wrongful termination, and mental pain and suffering under the injury section of his claim. He is seeking $200,000 annually in the aforementioned claim.
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