“Fu*k you White boy,” yelled at veteran helping puppies as 5 cops allegedly beat him in Dededo

A U.S. veteran who was serving his country in Guam in December 2022, when he was trying to find homes for five puppies and allegedly was beaten by five police officers, is losing hope he will see any justice from an island criminal justice system that is failing him.

Kandit provides to you below Patrick Musser’s complete statement to us describing what happened to him that day. These are not unique allegations. Several Guamanians have sought justice through the Guam Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the Office of the Attorney General, the legislature, and the governor’s office after alleging they were victims of GPD police brutality and corruption. In fact, senators today conducted an oversight hearing of GPD’s alleged cover up of criminal behavior among its ranks, and not one senator probed chief of police Stephen Ignacio beyond rudimentary questions.

His full statement contains a heart-wrenching account of that December day, when he stood for hours on a Dededo median holding up a sign about the puppies he was trying to find homes for before his family had to leave Guam. A year earlier, according to his statement, he rescued those puppies from a ditch in Barrigada, nursed them to health, and tried unsuccessfully to get them adopted. The standing-on-the-median-with-a-sign attempt was his final effort. And right when he was handing out his last flier, cops allegedly rushed at him, beat him, yelled profanities and racist comments, beat him more, arrested him, beat him again at the police station, then let him go when they found out he was in the Navy.

There is no record of charges against Mr. Musser. “My team has not charged the case and it was before I took office,” Attorney General Douglas Moylan told Kandit about the Musser case. Mr. Moylan took office a month after the Musser incident.

The absence of charges may indicate a lack of probable cause to charge Mr. Musser, the attorney general said. GPD has not provided his arrest record, so it is unclear why Mr. Musser officially was arrested, if any such record does exist. A picture of Mr. Musser holding the sign at the Dededo median along with rumors of his arrest did make its rounds in social media shortly after the incident.

Mr. Musser, however, has tried to report the matter and to have those officers allegedly involved in his beating and alleged coverup arrested. Several times since leaving Guam, the now-veteran has reported the matter to Mr. Ignacio, the police chief, several times. He has reached out to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and recently to the Office of the Attorney General, as well as the FBI’s field office in Seattle, where he now stays.

Despite his reports to the police chief, Mr. Ignacio has allowed the case to mature beyond the allowable deadline for any administrative disciplinary action to be taken against the police officers involved, and his agency has not answered whether any criminal investigation has been launched against the cops allegedly involved.

“Chief confirms he had received emails from Mr. Musser,” GPD spokeswoman Berlyn Savella told Kandit, continuing, “An Internal Affairs was independently initiated by the department however during the time of the internal affairs investigation, it was learned that Mr. Musser departed off-island shortly after his arrest where an interview was not conducted. Numerous attempts to contact Mr. Musser via his personal telephone, and home address were unsuccessful. At this time, Communications are ongoing with Mr. Musser.”

Patrick Musser has since retired from the U.S. Navy and relocated his family to the mainland U.S., but the emotional trauma and mental anguish from the attack stay with him.

“I remember fully believing that I was about to be driven out in the boonies and murdered,” he recalled in his statement.

“As I was released the reality of the situation had not yet set in. I felt like none of it was real. “It seemed like hours and hours had passed, yet only a small amount of time had. I returned home, continued packing my house up, stayed in a hotel for the rest of my time on island for fear of continued violence or death, and left the island a few days later.”

The puppies’ names were Speedy, Bunny, True, Brute and Lucky. And to add to an-already disheartening and painful story of the alleged abuse of police power to carry out racially-motivated violence against an innocent person… because Mr. Musser was beaten and arrested and he could do no more to help those puppies, they were euthanized.

 

Here is Mr. Musser’s full account of that day in December 2022:

I am writing this personal statement regarding my interaction with police in Guam in December 2022. In 40 years of life and 22 years of honorable active duty service I have never committed any crime or offense except for very few minor traffic violations. My service record reflects my commitment to the highest ethical standards, rules, chain of command, the Navy and my Country. I have spent my career holding myself accountable, just as I have held others. 

While stationed in Guam my family and I rescued 5 puppies from a ditch in Barrigada. They were mangey, starving, scared and badly wounded from machete blades. Their tails were missing and their backs were skinned. We cared for these puppies for over a year, trying in vain to find permanent homes for them. Finally, I decided to try one last attempt to get them homed before our PCS off island. I made posters with their names, pictures and stories and stood out on the road through Dededo two days before our flight off island. I was out for over 3 hours with no issues, standing in the same general area where many homeless also stand to ask for money. I was counting on this to garner attention to my posters. What I did not count on was the attention of Officer Sablan.

Since I was in the middle of my move off island I was unshaven, rather dirty, and obviously mistaken for a homeless caucasian man, of which there are a few in Guam. I know I was mistaken by the fact that many of the people driving past would try to hand me money, to which I would re-direct to puppy adoption. After the several hours had passed, my wife and oldest son drove past and told me that I had been out there long enough and that it was time to quit. It was 97 degrees and in full sun and 90% humidity that day, and I was ready to quit. However, I had one more poster to hand out and this was my last chance for Speedy, Bunny, True, Brute and Lucky. So I stayed a few minutes more while they went to a coffee shop a few minutes down the road. They returned within less than ten minutes, which is all it took for my life to nearly end and change forever. 

I heard someone yell from across the street on a small hill at the edge of the road, and as I looked up I saw who I later would know to be Officer Sablan, of the Dededo Branch of Guam Police Department. He was yelling and cursing, and pointing in an agitated manner in what appeared to be my general direction. However, I had no idea why he would be yelling at me as I was doing nothing wrong. In fact I was just one of 3 people on that intersection at that exact moment. I looked behind me across the other street, saw a man walking and assumed that was who the officer was yelling at. I turned back to officer Sablan, and pointed to the man across the street trying to get clarification as to whom he was gesturing. There was two or three car lanes in between us, and I could not understand his words as he had a heavy island accent and was, which I noticed at that moment, very angry and violent. Becoming instantly agitated, Officer Sablan went down the drive way adjacent to the hill and parking lot, and hurriedly crossed the street directly at me. Understanding now, that he indeed was talking to me I started to get nervous, as I have been told of the police in Guam, and I happened to be in the worst possible village for an interaction with them.

As soon as he reached me he pushed me so hard I nearly fell back into traffic. I frantically tried to explain to him that I was not begging for money, and tried to show him my sign. He would not hear any thing I said, and again pushed me, then grabbed the collar of my shirt and jerked it. I realized he must think that I am a homeless White guy, and I again tried to explain that I was not homeless. I walked across the road, away from Officer Sablan, to get to the sidewalk, as I was hoping that would stop him from the assault as it appeared to be what he wanted. It was indeed what he wanted, but it did not stop the assault.

The next thing I saw was Officer Sablan moving his patrol car, screaming at me out the window “Fuck you White Boy!” He got out of his car, put on gloves and proceed towards me, at which time I saw another police car pull to a stop right in front of me on the side of the highway. A much larger GPD officer got out and started talking with Officer Sablan. Not knowing the situation, and assuming that I would be safe now I asked the other officer for help, and explained that I was being assaulted by Officer Sablan. I realized at that moment he was not there to help me. They both approached, Officer Sablan punched me in the face, knocking me to the ground.

As I attempted to stand up, I came under full assault. Doing the only thing I could, I grabbed ahold of the sign post near me and held on for as long as I could. Over the next 1-2 minutes I was punched in the face, side and back of the head, sides, spine and stomach by no less than 5 cops. all the while I was in desperate fear that I was being murdered. That feeling of life or death drove me to continue to hold on to the post. I did not realize it at the time, but as the assault was just beginning, my wife and son had returned to pick me up and were horrified to see what was happening. They tried to intercede, but another cop kept them from being able to get out of the vehicle.

After a minute or two, my grip on the post failed as they were hitting my hand with what appeared to be a flashlight. I was taken to the ground, face first, and they all began to stomp on me, kick me in the face and head and kneel on my neck to the point where I could not breathe. I felt my left arm go out straight to the side and a hand cuff be placed on my wrist, I felt a extreme pain as one of the officers stomped on the handcuff to tighten it down. As I was dragged away to the police car one of the officers grabbed my hair looked at my face and said “Welcome to Guam.” I saw my family, realized they saw the whole thing, screamed for help, and was quickly driven away. 

These last events happened in less that 10 minutes.

Very quickly we arrived at the back of a police station, where at least 5 other male and female officers were standing in plain sight watching as the larger, bald, light skinned officer opened the rear door on the driver side, lean down and hit me full force in the face twice. I was taken into the cell, the whole way being kicked in the buttocks and kneed in the stomach. Once inside the cell, the large officer began to choke me with his right hand and slammed the back of my head against the wall.

I knew that if I in any way fought back I would be shot and killed.

That was the end of the assault, as I finally came to my senses and realized that I had not told them I was active duty. Even though my wallet was in my pocket, no one had asked for an ID. I yelled out “I’m Navy,” to which they all stopped. I was left in the cell, in cuffs and agony. I was on the ground, unable to move, for some time. Then Officer Sablan came back with a bottle of water and asked to remove the hand cuffs. He asked me if I was active duty. I said yes. He asked me my rank, and I said E8. Then he left.

The next thing that happened was EMT personnel arriving to treat me. However, Officer Sablan said that if I go with them like I wanted then after they would bring me back to the cell and keep me here as long as they could. But if I declined the medical attention, they would let me go and I could go to the hospital myself. So, stupidly, I agreed to decline the medical.  I was then taken out, placed in a car and driven to another facility.

On the trip to the facility, I remember fully believing that I was about to be driven out in the boonies and murdered. On the way in, I listened to the two officers driving the car, who’s names I do not know, describe a vehicle they saw driving as a “Spick” car, referring to it with a racist slur. We arrived at the facility I began to speak with the facility officer. He explained to me that he was in charge there, and asked me what happened. I could tell that he was truly concerned, and that he knew what they had done. But as i was trying to explain it, the other two officers walked in and he became quiet. He took my picture, and had me sign a promise to appear. At that time I realized what had happened. If I were homeless, I would have just gotten a beating. But they made a mistake and beat a 22-year veteran E8 with a perfect criminal and service record.

So to cover their tracks they conspired and decided to invent charges. I assume they feel like they can do that because on the island, they are untouchable. I was released and the releasing officer said i was the nicest “Haol’e” he had ever dealt with. A confusing statement as he had been nice to me, yet used a racial slur to refer to me. I was never ID’d aside for asking for my name, I never talked to any one in the justice system other than the officers. I was provided with a court hearing date on December 3, 2025. Three years in the future. 

As I was released the reality of the situation had not yet set in. I felt like none of it was real. It seemed like hours and hours had passed, yet only a small amount of time had. I returned home, continued packing my house up, stayed in a hotel for the rest of my time on island for fear of continued violence or death, and left the island a few days later. We had the vet on the base euthanize the puppies, as no one would help, the airlines would not transport them and I could not leave them on that island to suffer.

After arriving back to the [mainland] U.S., and after a week had passed and we were settled enough. I began to write to my state representatives, and called the FBI. I knew that there had to be video of the events, one patrol car camera facing the entire assault, cameras outside of the police station capturing the assault in the back of the police car, and several cameras in the cell recording the assault there. I did not want to file any report with local Guam police or anyone on the island, as I knew they were collaborating and would destroy evidence. I was contacted back by an Agent Scott with the Seattle FBI field Office. He took my report for investigation and forwarded on to the Guam FBI office. 

I realize that the entire situation is difficult to believe that this could happen completely un-provoked. And do not know what could have provoked the attack besides racism, hatred and ignorance. I do remember the anger and hatred in the eyes of Sablan and the larger, light-skinned cop.  This accounting is exactly accurate, I committed no crime, was not disorderly, I resisted an assault not an arrest, the entire time I did nothing more than hold onto a pole and did not assault anyone. I have faith that the FBI will come through and of the officers involved, at least one will tell the truth or they will find the video. Then all my charges will be dropped, the bad cops will be arrested, and I can move on completely. In the mean time, I still have a family to take care of. Hopefully, with help I can move on from this nightmare and maybe prevent this from happening to others.

Thank you. Respectfully,

Patrick D. Musser