Not The Bee: Woke City Appoints Convicted Murderer Who Shot Teen Girl To Police Review Board
Kyle Hedquist, a convicted murderer who was sentenced to life in prison for shooting a teenage girl to death in cold blood, has been reappointed to serve on Salem, Oregon’s police review board - all in the name of his so-called “perspective” on the criminal justice system.
Hedquist, an Oregon native, was convicted of the aggravated murder of 19-year-old Nikki Thrasher, whom he lured down a remote rural road and shot in the back of the head to prevent her from revealing his involvement in a series of robberies. In 2022, then-Governor Kate Brown (D) played a key role in securing Hedquist’s early release, insisting that the killer “shouldn’t be locked up for life” simply because he was 17 years old at the time he executed Thrasher.
At the time of the commutation, Nikki’s mother, Hollie Thrasher, rightly condemned the decision to free her daughter’s murderer.
“I am upset. I wasn’t even told,” she told KOIN 6. “He took the life of my daughter in cold blood. It was a cold-blooded murder. He planned it.”
The New York Post has the details behind the city’s decision to hire Hedquist:
Defending his reappointment to the board — whose members train with police and take part in ride-alongs — a Salem councillor praised Hedquist for the “perspective” he brings.
Hedquist “brings a perspective that most of us don’t have,” Ward 6 City Councilor Mai Vang said in a video shared on Facebook following the Dec. 8 vote.
“As someone who’s been through the criminal justice system, he understands community safety from a different angle. He’s one voice among nine — he’s not running the show, but his experience matters,” she added.
While certain soft-on-crime ideologues may applaud this bizarre and tone-deaf appointment, law enforcement professionals are understandably appalled.
“To think that we’re providing education on kind of how we do what we do to someone with that criminal history, it just doesn’t seem too smart,” the Salem Police Employees’ Union declared in an interview with KATU2.
Salem Professional Fire Fighters Local 314 has likewise denounced the move.
“As police and fire professionals in the Salem community, we are asking Salem residents to stand with us,” their statement read.