We fought hard against the establishment’s business-as-usual budget Dear People’s Budget activists and community members: Congratulations to everyone for a successful People’s Budget struggle on many fronts!  On Monday, Nov. 25, the City Council adopted a 2020 budget. We need to celebrate what has been won, while at the same time refusing to accept a […]

We, the undersigned, have no confidence that an internal police investigation will find justice for Charleena. We demand Seattle’s Mayor and City Council appoint an independent, community-based committee, empowered to investigate Charleena’s killing, with full access to case evidence, witnesses, and department policies. Nationwide, of 1,155 people killed by police in 2016, only 13 officers […]

Earlier today, my office asked the Seattle Police Department (SPD) questions about the horrific killing of Charleena Lyles.  Charleena was killed by police in her home, in front of her children. This horrific killing happened just two days after the officers who killed Philando Castile were found ‘not guilty’ in Minnesota. Let’s stand in solidarity […]

On May 22, 2017, the Seattle City Council passed “police accountability” legislation. Below are my comments explaining what in the legislation is positive, and how it falls far short of what is needed to provide real police accountability in Seattle.  I would like to thank the Community Police Commission for their dedication to police accountability, […]

On May 19, 2017, I wrote the following letter to Seattle Seahawks General Manager John Schneider, Head Coach Pete Carroll, and Owner Paul Allen, asking them to sign Colin Kaepernick as backup quarterback. Dear Seattle Seahawks General Manager John Schneider, Head Coach Pete Carroll, and Owner Paul Allen: I am writing to convey that Colin Kaepernick […]

Yesterday, I wrote Mayor Murray, Sheriff Urquhart and Chief O’Toole to urge them to immediately halt the physical eviction of the Umoja PEACE Center, one of the pillars of the Central District and Seattle’s black community. Nothing demonstrates the unacceptable impacts of gentrification and de facto redlining taking place in Seattle like the eviction of […]

On March 15, 2017, I sent the following letter to Mayor Murray, Sheriff Urquhart, and Chief O’Toole, opposing the eviction of the Central District’s Umoja PEACE Center. Dear Mayor Murray, Sheriff Urquhart, and Chief O’Toole; I am writing to urge you to immediately halt the physical eviction of the UmojaFest PEACE Center House, a pillar of […]

  Thank you to all of the activists who packed Council Chambers on August 10, 2016, to support the “Block the Bunker” campaign demanding Council vote against spending an astronomical $160 million (or $149 million) to build a new North Police Precinct. Their testimony can be seen in the video below. With an affordable housing crisis, ballooning homelessness, underdeveloped mass transit, underfunded education, and […]

On September 21, 2015, the Seattle City Council unanimously adopted a resolution committing to a vision of zero youth detentions within Seattle. Congratulations to the activists and community members who have built such a powerful movement against youth detention and the school-to-prison pipeline.  I strongly support this resolution, but words are not enough. Only months ago, every other Councilmember […]

Sisters & Brothers, Today is Juneteenth, the day we celebrate the end of the Civil War and the smashing of slavery – one of the most brutally oppressive systems the world has known. While the institution of slavery is gone, racism is not. There are now more black men ensnared in the criminal justice system […]