An Oregon city is facing a backlash after “rehabilitation” of convicted killer Kyle Hedquist went way too far when the Salem city council voted to reappoint him to its Community Police Review board.
It is hard to imagine no one else was available to be on the board of the city’s public safety and police oversight board than Hedquist, who spent 28 years behind bars of a life sentence without the possibility of parole after he was convicted in 1994 for what authorities called an “execution style” murder of then 19-year-old Nikki Thrasher.
BREAKING - In a 5 to 4 decision, the Salem City Council in Oregon has appointed Kyle Hedquist, whose sentence for murdering a 19 year old in 1995 and leaving her in a ditch was commuted in 2022, to the police oversight board and civil commission. pic.twitter.com/KpDUyjfP1K
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) December 30, 2025
And the details of the murder of Thrasher are gruesome. Hedquist was 17 at the time of the killing.
It read:
Prosecutors said he drove Thrasher to a wooded area, shot her in the back of the head, and left her body on a remote logging road. They described the killing as an “execution-style” murder.
According to prosecutors, Hedquist believed Thrasher had discovered he had stolen items from his aunt and killed her to prevent her from reporting him. Thrasher had asked him about the stolen items, which prosecutors said he interpreted as a threat.
In 2022, former Democrat Governor Kate Brown granted Hedquist clemency. At the time, Brown got pushback from those in law enforcement, including Douglas County Sheriff John Hanlin, according to an Oregon outlet.
It read:
He said the decision to release Hedquist was shocking and irresponsible and that it rejected the justice delivered on behalf of Nikki Thrasher, her family, and her friends.
To make matters worse, it was later reported that Nikki’s mother, Holly Thrasher, was never even notified of Hedquist's release.
Two years later, the council members threw the police pledge “sworn to protect” out the window with his first appointment on the board.
One outlet noted that the council’s initial decision “overrode the recommendation of its own Boards and Commissions Appointments Committee which had urged that the seat be left vacant.”
During the recent December meeting for his reappointment, the four council members voted against, calling it morally wrong.
Councilor Shane Matthews was one of those who opposed the reappointment, per the report.
If the execution of a teenager followed by a life sentence does not disqualify someone from overseeing police officers, then no crime ever will. He said positions involving public safety must be held to higher standards and that this decision sends a chilling message to victims of violent crime across Oregon.
But Councilor Mai Vang argued that “people can change and that Hedquist’s experience within the criminal justice system gives him insight into community safety.”
The reappointment has since opened up old wounds with the community pushing back.
The Oregon Republican Party released a statement about the woke reappointment.
The absurdity of putting a convicted murderer on a board dealing with public safety/police oversight!
— Oregon GOP (@Oregon_GOP) December 28, 2025
While it seems like something from @TheBabylonBee it's actually fodder for @Not_the_Bee! https://t.co/gFIWLsRKAz
The absurdity of putting a convicted murderer on a board dealing with public safety/police oversight! While it seems like something from @TheBabylonBee it's actually fodder for @Not_the_Bee!
“OREGON — Kyle Hedquist murdered a teenage girl execution-style, left her body on a country road, and was sentenced to life in prison,” one person wrote on social media. He was released early by Democrat Governor Kate Brown — and now Salem put him in a public safety oversight role.
“Oregonians… are you tired of this kind of leadership yet? Are you ready to show up and vote these criminals out?” she added.
Another person on Facebook on the GOP page added, “Doesn't say much for those who change their votes either. Should have never been let out of prison let alone being appointed to the police advisory board. Leftists run amuck. Pathetic. Salem gets what it votes for. Unbelievable.”
Look, I acknowledge that people can make mistakes, learn from them, and go on to live productive lives. But this appointment, IMO, is way beyond that. Why can’t Hedquist volunteer as part of a Scared Straight program? Sharing what he has learned since the murder and incarceration to help prevent others from possibly going down the same path? Such a slap in the face to Thrasher's family and other victims.
Please pray for Nikki Thrasher’s mom and family. They are the ones who matter here, not Hedquist and those woke members on the city council who can’t see past their virtue signaling.
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