WSP troopers protest union's endorsement of candidate who defended cop killer

The union representing Washington State Patrol troopers is standing firm in its endorsement of attorney general candidate Bob Ferguson despite complaints from union members that Ferguson defended a convicted cop killer decades ago.

The union backed Ferguson for a second time Thursday after reconsidering their initial endorsement. That reconsideration came after rank-and-file members of the union learned that Ferguson offered legal advice to Ronald Turney Williams, who killed two West Virginia law enforcement officers 20 years ago. One of the state troopers Williams killed was just 23 years old.

In an interview with KIRO 7 senior political reporter Essex Porter on Thursday, Ferguson, a Democrat, said his moral opposition to the death penalty led him to help Williams.

“I worked on an appeal that would get him counsel, get him a lawyer, to assist him in his appeals and we were successful in that,” Ferguson said.

In a letter obtained by KIRO 7, eight State Patrol troopers called the union’s endorsement of Ferguson patently offensive. That didn’t change the union’s decision, though.

“Ultimately, we looked at the situation as a whole for what it was and what he was really standing up for,” union president Tom Pillow said. “He was standing up for Constitutional rights.”

Pillow also said the union reaffirmed its endorsement of Ferguson because it believed he would be the best candidate to protect collective bargaining rights, which have come under siege in other states.

Reagan Dunn, a Republican, is challenging Ferguson for the position of attorney general, and also fought for the union’s endorsement.

“It shows bad judgment to express sympathy for, and represent voluntarily, somebody who had killed several people, including two law enforcement officers, one a state trooper,” Dunn said.

Ferguson said he was upholding the Constitution when he defended Williams.

“I believe firmly in the Constitution,” Ferguson said. “So I believe firmly in trying to get this man an attorney. Frankly, if my opponent in the campaign for attorney general has a different opinion of this, he should say so.”

Ferguson also said that while he’s morally against the death penalty, it won’t matter if he’s elected.

“I absolutely, as attorney general, will make no exceptions, spare no quarter, for anyone who is on death row in Washington state,” he said.