Seattle movie theatre manager celebrates death of police officer: 'One down many more to go!'

When an Everett police officer was shot and killed in action while responding to an incident near Everett Community College, Washington, a Regal movie theatre manager named Nick Charles Tveit, of Shoreline, near Seattle, celebrated the tragedy on Twitter, stating that the loss of the cop in the line of duty was a step in the right direction. "One down," Tveit reacted to the news, "many more to go!"

When asked by KTTH Radio talk show host Jason Rantz if he really wanted to celebrate the shooting death of an officer, Tveit doubled down on his assertion.

"Cleaning the streets," Tveit replied to Rantz in a Twitter exchange Friday.

Fox News producer Gregg Re revealed that Tveit manages Seattle's downtown Regal movie theatre. Tveit posted a selfie in his work uniform recently on Twitter, wearing a golden Regal badge with his name and position visible on it.

When asked by a Twitter user if Tveit is the type of person Regal wants working as a manager, the movie theatre company responded Saturday. "The sentiment expressed is in no way in line with our corporate values. Regal has a zero-tolerance position in this matter and we are handling accordingly," Regal replied.

Tveit's own Twitter account, @ntveit98, has since been deleted.

Rantz reported that Tveit started deleting some tweets amid the backlash. "Just the ones with info about his job & name. He knows he's a ghoul but doesn’t want his employer to find out? They probably already know," Rantz wrote on Twitter.

A screenshot posted by Rantz showed Tveit also tweeting Friday:

"Many of your kind (hypocritical shallow dumb-ass conservatives) were happy the 'streets were cleaner' when George Floyd was killed in cold blood. You won't have my remorse for a pig. Streets are cleaner with less cops on them!"

Everett Police Officer Dan Rocha, 41-years-old, was shot to death Friday afternoon when he responded to reports of "suspicious activity" in a Starbucks parking lot. An altercation unfolded and the shooting suspect opened fire, killing the officer. The suspect was apprehended within minutes of the fatal shooting, following a three-vehicle crash a couple of miles south, The Everett Herald reported.

Cassie Franklin, major of Everett, released a statement mourning Rocha's death.

"I am devastated by the loss of Officer Dan Rocha, a valued member of our Everett Police Department who was killed today in the line of duty," she said. "My heart goes out to his family and loved ones, as well as our entire Everett Police Department, grieving this senseless loss. Our police officers bravely put themselves in harm’s way to keep every one of us safe. When one of our heroes falls, it causes a ripple of grief felt by our entire community. We are heartbroken, and honor Officer Rocha’s memory, legacy, and ultimate sacrifice in service to our City."

Rocha's death comes at a time when Seattle is facing historic highs in crime—especially in the category of violent shootings. According to the Wall Street Journal, about 360 officers left Seattle's police department over two years.

The reduction in police staffing has been accompanied by a staggering jump in shootings as the Seattle Police Department closed out its 2021 report with over 600 shootings on the books. On the other end of the spectrum, police interactions dropped by 27 percent in the same year, while police response times skyrocket.

Calls to defund the police took center stage during the city's most recent mayoral race where one of the two candidates had called for slashing police budgets by almost 50 percent. And in the past two years, the nation's attention has been brought back to Washington a number of times as incidents like the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP) pitted activists against the local police force.

Tveit's reaction on Twitter to Rocha's death might be an isolated incident, but also serves as a symbolic extension of the left's disregard for its public servants.

Rantz replied to Tveit's final tweet in the Twitter thread, perfectly summarizing the takeaway from the movie threatre manager's statement on the death of Rocha.

"Ooof. Nick… what a mistake," Rantz said.