Black man wins $325,000 after wrongful arrest for using golf club as cane in Seattle [VIDEO]

Federal jury sides with 69-year-old William Wingate, finding officer violated his civil rights after false arrest captured on bodycam

A 2014 Seattle arrest that once symbolized racial profiling in policing has resurfaced on social media — reigniting outrage and debate after the wrongfully accused man, 69-year-old William Wingate, was awarded $325,000 in damages. The clip shows Wingate being confronted by a white officer while using a golf club as a cane. Despite evidence showing no crime, he was handcuffed, jailed, and humiliated. This came before being cleared of all charges and later vindicated in court.

The case was a flashpoint for Seattle’s police reform movement. Now, it has reentered public conversation in thanks to a reposted bodycam clip that’s gathered over 400,000 views and 6,000 likes on X (formerly Twitter). The footage captures the tense exchange between Wingate and former Seattle officer Cynthia Whitlatch. Later, her actions were ruled racially discriminatory by a federal jury.

The Video That Reignited National Attention

In the clip, Wingate, a retired Metro bus driver and Air Force veteran, is seen walking slowly down a Capitol Hill sidewalk on July 9, 2014, leaning on a golf club he’d used as a cane for over two decades. Without warning, Officer Whitlatch approaches him and shouts, “Drop the golf club!” Wingate, visibly confused, replies, “This is my cane.”

Whitlatch insists she saw him swing the club at her patrol car — a claim later disproven by dashcam footage. Despite his calm explanation, she radios for backup and accuses him of “harassment” and “unlawful use of a weapon.” Within minutes, Wingate is handcuffed on camera, placed in the back of a squad car, and booked into jail. He would spend over 24 hours detained before prosecutors dismissed the case.

The reposted footage, which overlays bold red text reading “Black Man Was Awarded $325,000 After White Cop Arrested Him for Carrying a Golf Club as a Cane”, has gone viral this week. Users have flooded the replies with anger, disbelief, and calls for reform.

From Arrest to National Reckoning

Wingate’s ordeal became one of Seattle’s most notorious examples of racial bias in policing. After charges were dropped, he filed a federal civil rights lawsuit (Wingate v. City of Seattle) in 2015, alleging unlawful arrest and discrimination. The following year, a unanimous jury sided with him, awarding $325,000 in compensatory damages for violation of his Fourth Amendment rights.

The court ruled that Whitlatch fabricated her claim about the alleged “swing” and had acted out of racial prejudice. Testimony revealed Wingate had committed no crime, posed no threat, and complied peacefully until detained. During the trial, the city of Seattle did not defend Whitlatch’s actions, conceding she had “no legal basis” for the arrest.

Whitlatch, an 18-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department, was fired in 2015 for bias and unprofessional conduct after internal investigations found she violated departmental policies on impartial policing. Her disciplinary record included earlier complaints from community members about racially charged comments and excessive behavior.

The Aftermath: Accountability Meets Controversy

Despite her firing, Whitlatch later received a $105,000 back pay settlement in 2017 after her union — the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild — appealed the termination. The agreement reclassified her departure as “retirement in lieu of termination,” allowing her to collect benefits but permanently barring her from future law enforcement work. The decision fueled criticism of police unions for protecting officers found guilty of misconduct.

In total, Seattle taxpayers paid nearly $1.3 million stemming from the incident — covering Wingate’s award, legal fees, and Whitlatch’s settlement. The city also issued a public apology to Wingate, acknowledging the role racial bias played in his arrest.

Whitlatch later deleted social media posts that surfaced during the investigation, including anti-Black Lives Matter statements. She testified that personal trauma from childhood shaped her fear response but denied any racist intent. The jury rejected that defense.

Wingate’s Quiet Resilience and Legacy

Wingate, who used his settlement to cover health expenses and support local community programs, rarely speaks publicly about the case. But court filings and interviews describe a man whose dignity never wavered despite humiliation. “I was just walking home. I did nothing wrong,” he told reporters after the verdict. “All I wanted was to be treated with respect.”

His attorneys framed the case as a defining moment in Seattle’s struggle with bias policing, noting the irony that it occurred while the city was already under a federal consent decree for excessive force and racial discrimination. The ruling became a symbolic victory for those demanding police accountability in liberal cities often perceived as “progressive.”

Resurgence and Renewed Outrage

Ten years later, the resurfaced video has reignited the conversation online. The clip shared by @raphousetv2 on October 29, has been reposted across X, TikTok, and Instagram, with captions like “They arrested this man for walking while Black” and “$325K can’t fix what they put him through.”

Most replies express empathy and outrage, while others focus on systemic reform. “If an elderly man with a cane scares you, you shouldn’t be a cop,” one user wrote, gaining over 400 likes. Others pushed for mandatory police liability insurance, arguing officers should bear personal responsibility for wrongful arrests.

Still, a small but vocal minority dismissed the racial context, arguing Wingate should have “complied faster.” Those replies, often ratioed in the comments, illustrate how polarized discussions on policing remain — even in clear-cut cases of proven misconduct.

How This Case Fits a Larger Pattern

The story’s renewed traction parallels ongoing debates about qualified immunity and racial profiling. Civil rights advocates point out that even though Whitlatch faced discipline, few officers in similar cases experience lasting consequences.

Wingate’s case joined a list of national incidents — from Sandra Bland to Elijah McClain — often invoked in discussions about everyday encounters turned violent or humiliating due to racial bias. While his situation ended without physical harm, it underscored how humiliation and fear can inflict long-lasting trauma.

Seattle’s response was, in some ways, ahead of its time. The city launched new bias training protocols and expanded public oversight boards in the years following. But as activists note, “reform without accountability is just repetition.”

Public Reaction: Outrage, Irony, and Reflection

Under the repost, comment threads highlight how internet memory keeps stories like Wingate’s alive. Humor mingles with anger — a uniquely online form of catharsis. Replies range from “He up $325K, bless him” to “Ten years later and this still hits a nerve.”

Others drew parallels to recent policing controversies, calling the footage “proof that cameras don’t stop racism — they just expose it.” For some users, the reemergence of this story isn’t just a reminder of injustice but also an archive of endurance — a symbol of how social media reshapes history’s timeline, resurfacing moments that power new generations of outrage.

Conclusion

What began as an ordinary walk for a 69-year-old man turned into a viral parable about America’s ongoing struggle with race, policing, and accountability. The $325,000 payout may have closed William Wingate’s legal chapter, but the bodycam clip continues to echo across time — each repost reigniting the same uncomfortable truth: even a golf club used as a cane can be seen as a weapon when bias leads the badge.

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