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, […]

  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 […]

  Garfield High School teacher and social justice activist, Jesse Hagopian, announced at a press conference on January 28th that he is filing a lawsuit against the City of Seattle and the Seattle Police Department (SPD) after being pepper sprayed as he walked down the street. The incident, which was captured on video, occurred after […]

On Monday, January 12th at 9:30 am at City Hall, Chief O’Toole and other leading officials from the Seattle Police Department will answer questions from Councilmembers about the SPD‘s policing of the Black Lives Matter protests over the last several weeks. It is important that civil rights activists and social justice advocates come to this […]

Transcript of Speech as Delivered I want to say in advance that my comments will not be very brief, because I want to express the opinions of the working people of this city. I appreciate all the work that has gone into this police chief search. I appreciate Councilmembers Harrell and Burgess, all the members […]