to free speech. An investigation by the South Seattle Emerald in July 2020 found that at least eight SPD officers violated department policy and possibly election law by registering to vote at their precinct address, as opposed to their residential address. After the OPA investigation concluded, five officers (including the Seattle Police Officers Guild president Mike Solan) received written reprimands or 1 day suspensions. Police union president Mike Solan faced calls for him to resign after falsely claiming that the January 6 United States Capitol attack was at least partially the fault of Black Lives Matter and other left-wing activists in early January 2021. At least two SPD officers who attended the riot or the preceding rally were placed on administrative leave. SPD officers Alexander Everett and Caitlin Rochelle, a married couple, were later fired after an OPA investigation found that they trespassed onto Capitol grounds during the attack. In September 2021, the city of Seattle settled a lawsuit for $250,000 after officers entered the home of a 74-year-old man during a 2019 welfare check, held him at gunpoint, and forcefully arrested him. A previous OPA investigation into the incident had concluded that allegations of excessive force were unfounded and consistent with department policy. An OPA investigation released in January 2022 revealed that during the George Floyd protests in June 2020, SPD officers faked radio chatter about armed Proud Boys heading toward the area that would later be known as the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP). According to OPA Director Myerberg, this "improperly added fuel to the fire and could have had dire results." The investigation did not sustain allegations against any officers identified in the radio transmissions but instead against two supervisors who had already left the department. This revelation followed several other instances of misinformation from the department during the 2020 protests, such as claims of extortion in the CHOP area and a SPD tweet claiming pictured candles were improvised explosives thrown by protesters at police. In April 2022, the Seattle Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a report that found that the OPA routinely dismissed complaints against officers who violated the mask mandate by calling it a systemic issue to be addressed by the department rather than a matter for individual discipline. None of the 98 mask-related allegations reviewed by the OIG were sustained by OPA, even as officers repeatedly violated the mandate. The report also