TikTok Breanna Straus
Breanna Straus is a Federal Way police officer in Washington State whose TikTok video has caused controversy.
“Get the f*** out of the way,” she said repeatedly in the now-deleted video.
According to Indy100, the video first appeared in news stories in July 2022. However, it went viral again in September 2022. The video went viral after being posted on Reddit and other social media platforms.
KIRO7-TV first broke the news of the video on July 1, 2022.
Here’s what you need to know:
Straus Received a 10-Hour Suspension Without Pay for the TikTok Video
According to Seattle Weekly, which reported on the TikTok video in mid-August 2022, Straus “received a suspension after the department found two conduct violations.”
She works for the Federal Way Police Department in Washington State.
“If we’re driving on the freeway in our police car, get the f*** out of the way, get the f*** out of the way,” she says in the TikTok video. “If you merge, and we follow behind you, and we merge too, you’re probably in trouble. I can go 90 miles an hour, you can’t. You can’t do that. So get the f*** out of the way. If us officers stay behind you long enough, we can find a reason to pull you over.”
According to Seattle Weekly, Straus was investigated in July for “social media conduct and personal conduct” and received a 10-hour suspension without pay, which is “one shift” from Police Chief Andy Hwang.
Police gave KIRO7 a statement when the video was first revealed. “The Federal Way Police Department stresses professionalism in every aspect of our mission and does not tolerate actions by any employee, on or off duty, that would tarnish the reputation of the agency. We value the trust that our community has in the Federal Way Police Department and we strive each day to earn and maintain the public’s trust,” it reads.
“We have viewed the social media video posted by Officer Straus and can assure you that it does not represent the core values and practices of our police department. The Federal Way Police have a reputation of being respectful, courteous, and professional and are focused on serving the community at the highest level.”
People Criticized Straus
The comments on the Reddit video were not kind to Straus. “Karen joined the police,” wrote one person.
“The terrible attitude aside, this is one annoying sounding person,” wrote another. “The cringe was strong in this,” another person wrote.
Wrote another Reddit user, “She probably talks like that in every conversations and is secretly hated by people she works with.”
Another concluded, “People like this shouldn’t be a cop or even allowed to drive, full stop. You go with the flow of traffic and pass when you need to, you don’t always need to be the one in front.”
Another wrote, “PSA. You are the reason people don’t like cops. Your message is doing the reverse of what you intended.”
According to Federal Way Mirror, Straus has been a police officer in that community since 2021.
Seattle Weekly reported that police had not received complaints about Straus.
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