I was wondering what happened to former Bellevue police officer Mike Hetle after he was arrested and charged with the first-degree murder of a black neighbor last year in Virginia. But before we get into that, let’s recount some background on Hetle’s “career.” He first came under notoriety in 2001 when he was investigated for racial harassment of an Ethiopian woman during a traffic stop. While that was still going on, Hetle shot and killed a would-be bank robber who was running away, so the suspect was presumably shot in the back; what made this “notable” was the fact that this was only the second fatal shooting by a Bellevue police officer in almost half a century. Hetle was presented a medal for his “heroism,” but he refused it, since he was “upset” that he was still being investigated for the prior incident (the woman would eventually receive something around a $6,000 settlement).
Hetle would soon add to his kill count, making it 2 out of 3 fatal shootings during that the half-century time frame. This time it was a Guatemalan immigrant named Nelson Martinez-Mendez. This is another one of those incidents that should never have happened save for the hysteria of a vengeful female. After the shooting, one of his cousins reported that Martinez-Mendez was due to fly to California to join his sister that very day, and was already packed up and ready to leave for the airport.
But his other cousin, who happened to return home early because of sickness, tried to stop him because she “needed” him to stick around to help pay her rent. As she admitted during the subsequent inquest (that predictably "justified" the killing), she tried to blackmail him by threatening to call the police with a made-up story about a knife, but he said “go ahead” and left. Hetle arrived so quickly he smashed into Martinez-Mendez’s car. He ordered him to get out, or at least that is what Hetle claims.
Martinez-Mendez apparently heard something else; Hetle claimed that he saw him reaching for a weapon, and shot him dead. When backup arrived, the only thing found that could be construed as a “weapon” was a knife under one of the seats and a tire iron; the only thing actually found on Martinez-Mendez’s person was his wallet with his driver’s license on his lap.
But I’ll leave that for now. After Hetle was “persuaded” to take a leave of absence in Hawaii as a military reservist, he somehow got a job with the Department of Homeland Security (people with no qualms about shooting Hispanic immigrants was probably what they were looking for post 9-11), before Hetle somehow was deemed “suitable” for an executive position with NASA. According to NASA’s profile of Hetle, he was
the executive officer to the associate administrator for the Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD) at NASA Headquarters. He is responsible for the business operations of the directorate and the executive staff, and supports the associate administrator in coordinating the reviews of all nationwide and international NASA aeronautics related research programs. In addition, he conducts ARMD outreach and interaction activities with all NASA field centers, industry, associations, academia and other government agencies… Before joining NASA he served as a director with the Headquarters of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security… He has received multiple awards for superior achievement and individual recognition while serving with Homeland Security, the U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Defense and senior levels of the U.S. Government.
Other than to note that this doesn’t mention his time as a Bellevue police officer, it seems rather peculiar that someone like Hetle would be lauded for “superior achievement,” would have any knowledge at all about aerospace technology, or have held “senior level” positions in the U.S. government. It almost certainly is made-up shit by someone trying to justify putting this psychopath in any position of “prominence.”
Before the shooting in Virginia, we are told that Hetle had frequent run-ins with Javon Prather and his wife Janelle, mostly over what Hetle referred to as “ghetto music.” In 2019, the disputes between the two households resulted in 49 police responses to the Prather home from complaints from Hetle, an average of about one a week. None of the other neighbors appeared to have complaints. One argument between Janelle Prather and Hetle resulted in her throwing bottles and candlesticks at his car; Hetle was able to obtain a restraining order against her, but not against Javon Prather. Hetle’s constant complaints persuaded the homeowner’s association to file a lawsuit the Prathers in order to mollify him.
But what people didn’t seem to know about was Hetle’s past history of violence and racial animosity. Janelle Prather claimed that they did not know of Hetle’s past history, and if they had known it, they would stayed away from him instead of “bickering” with him over his constant complaints, which Janelle Prather characterized as deliberate harassment. During the trial, Hetle’s son admitted that his father always referred to Javon Prather using racial epithets.
On the day of the shooting, Hetle claimed that Javon Prather had raced up the steps toward his front door armed with a knife. But Hetle’s own security camera outside his door showed police, frustrated with having to respond to another of Hetle’s complaints, leaving the property, and then Hetle apparently shouting at Javon Prather who appears to be partially dressed looking out his front door. He then reappears walking up to Hetle’s door to talk to him, knocking and then waiting for him to respond. He clearly is not “armed”:
News footage does not show the actual shooting, but the Washington Post reported that when Hetle opened the door he was pointing a gun at Prather, who one witness saw raise his hands in the air before Hetle shot him point blank in the stomach, and five more times as Prather tried to run down the stairs, falling beside the car. Hetle then fired a seventh shot into Prather as he lay lifeless on the ground; even if he had survived, one of bullets severed his spine, which would have left him paralyzed. We then see Hetle threatening to shoot Janelle Prather if she goes on his property…
…but she insists on pulling his body out of his driveway:
Prosecutors in the case pointed out that Hetle had made a prior warning that something “tragic” was going to happen, so his action was premeditated. The video at no time shows any indication that Hetle was being threatened, and that “even more offensive is the callousness the defendant displayed after gunning Javon down. After taking his final shot and threatening Janelle Prather, the defendant calmly strolled back into his home. He did not call the police. He did not seek aid. He simply left Javon in his driveway, like the weekly garbage, for someone else to clean up…Even now, in the presentence investigation, there is not a hint of remorse or an acknowledgment of Javon’s humanity.”
But what happened before all of this occurred? The city of Bellevue reached a $75,000 wrongful death settlement with Martinez-Mendez’s mother—but Hetle got an even “sweeter” deal. The following is a story from 2003 in the Seattle Times:
The Bellevue police officer at the center of a controversial shooting death would quit the force and collect $30,000 from the city under a proposed settlement of a harassment claim he filed.
Officer Michael Hetle would resign from the department effective Dec. 15, more than two years after he shot an unarmed Guatemalan immigrant outside a Bellevue apartment. The deal goes to the City Council for approval Monday.
The city, in return, would pay Hetle $30,000, expunge any unfounded complaints from his file, recommend him for a state police medal of valor for an earlier shooting and say little to any future employers asking about Hetle's work in the department.
And thus a psychopathic killer was allowed back on the streets, not only allowed to walk away without a hint of remorse for what he had done, but with his official record wiped clean of his racist and trigger-happy predilections, with only the mention of his receiving a medal for “valor” for the killing of a man where there were also questions about its necessity. Today, Hetle is facing the justice he evaded for 20 years, having been convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced this past January to life imprisonment, albeit with “parole.”
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