Washington school board fills vacancy with woke activist filmed branding cops ‘pigs’

A Washington state school board has filled a vacancy with a wakeful activist who was filmed outside the state capital last year branding the police as “pigs” and saying, “f**k the police.”

During the video, Talauna Reed, 46, told a crowd of people gathered for the demonstration to “tear up everything in this f**king city,” referring to the state’s capital, Olympia.

Reed will serve on the Olympia School Board that became vacant in August and was sworn into her new position last Thursday.

Her involvement in local activism arose when her aunt Yvonne McDonald was found dead on a street in Olympia in 2018. Reed has claimed that McDonald was murdered and that the city covered up the crime.

No arrests have been made in the case. Police said she died of blunt force trauma to her abdomen, with complications related to alcohol.

She ran for city council last year, but was unsuccessful, gaining about 40 percent of the vote.

The school board says in a press release that it has interviewed six candidates for the position, but ultimately awarded them to Reed.

Reed was sworn in to the board last Thursday and will remain in that position until December 2023

During the controversial clip labeling Reed as “anti-police,” she is seen standing under a canopy, addressing a crowd.

“It amazes me how those pigs can sit there and watch us talk peacefully about what we want to change in this state,” she said.

Reed became involved in activism in 2018 after the mysterious death of her aunt Yvonne McDonald. In the controversial video, Reed asks the audience to sing her name

‘It surprises me. And they don’t pay attention until we tear up. So, before I start, tear everything up in this goddamn city until they do what we want them to do.”

Earlier in the short clip, Reed asks the audience to say the names of two women out loud. The first was Breonna Taylor, a black medical worker who was shot and killed by police officers in Kentucky in 2020, sparking protests across the US.

The second wife was Yvonne McDonald – a black woman and Reed’s aunt who was mysteriously found dead by a street sweeper in western Olympia in 2018.

Activists have argued that the city’s investigation into 58-year-old McDonald was inadequate and inappropriate, claiming they are either “incompetent or covering up something,” the Justice for Yvonne McDonald group said in a press release.

Reed has personally said she believes the police “know something” and that they were “protecting their employee.” She claimed her aunt’s death was murder and called on street sweeper Henry Morales, who found her aunt dead, to resign.

In a separate video, Reed can be heard singing “Fire Henry Morales.”

Reed was one of six candidates interviewed by the school board for the position. She also gave a presentation focused on an equality policy that the school district is currently working on

Reed was described by local news channel KOMO News as “an outspoken community organizer.” According to a recent school board press release, Reed has worked as an Advocacy Navigator at Interfaith Works, a group that helps the homeless.

“Reed facilitates training in cultural diversity, de-escalation, restorative justice models, anti-racism and trauma-based care across multiple organizations and in collaboration with other Thurston County providers,” the statement said.

“There’s a lot of classism in the school district and there’s a lot of exclusion,” Reed said during a presentation to the board. Her focus was on an equality policy that the school district is currently working on.

“I know students feel cut off and isolated,” she said. “There’s probably a lack of teachers of different ethnicities in Washington state, but I know they’re around — they’re somewhere.”

She will serve a one-year term until December 2023.