December 22, 2025
A convicted murderer policing the police in Salem, Oregon
By Greg Richter
Personal redemption is a vital part of our humanity, but putting a convicted killer on a police oversight board defies common sense. Yet that’s exactly what has happened in Salem, Oregon.
Critics are, naturally, livid, noting that the move ignores public safety concerns and warnings from law enforcement who called his early release “shocking and irresponsible,” Fox News Digital reports.
Kyle Hedquist, 47, was reappointed to the seat by the Salem City Council on a 5-4 vote earlier this month. He was freed after then-Oregon Gov. Kate Brown granted clemency in 2022.
Reformed or not, Hedquist’s crime was especially disturbing: He was convicted of aggravated murder in the 1995 death of 19-year-old Nikki Thrasher. The then-18-year-old Hedquist feared Thrasher would turn him in to police for hiding stolen property, and shot her in the head, dumping her body on a remote road, according to prosecutors.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2025/12/a_convicted_murderer_policing_the_police_in_salem_oregon.html
