WBIR: More than 1,000 people filled a synagogue for the funeral of 58 year old Pam Waechter, who died in Friday’s shooting at a Jewish center in Seattle.
Seattle police are investigating another shooting that happened near the city’s “occupied” protest zone. The shooting happened around 5 a.m. Tuesday in the Capitol Hill neighborhood east of downtown. A spokesperson at Harborview Medical Center said the man’s wounds were not life-threatening. Police didn’t immediately release more information. It was the third recent shooting near the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest.” Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Monday the city will move to wind down the protest zone following the shootings. The mayor said the violence was distracting from changes sought by thousands of peaceful protesters opposing racial inequity and police brutality. Durkan also said police will soon return to a police station that the department largely abandoned in the area after clashes with protesters following George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police. (AP)
One person was wounded in what was the second shooting in Seattle’s protest zone in less than 48 hours, police said. The shooting happened late Sunday night in the area near Seattle’s downtown that is known as CHOP, for “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest,” police tweeted, adding that one person was at a hospital with a gunshot wound. The person arrived in a private vehicle and was in serious condition, Harborview Medical Center spokesperson Susan Gregg said in a statement. The zone evolved after weeks of protests in the city over police brutality and racism, sparked by the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. The Sunday shooting followed a pre-dawn shooting on Saturday in a park within the zone that left a 19-year-old man dead and a 33-year-old man critically injured. The suspect or suspects in that first shooting fled the scene, and no arrests had been made as of Sunday, Detective Mark Jamieson had said. It wasn’t immediately clear where within the zone Sunday night’s shooting took place. The Seattle Fire Department arrived at the scene at 10:46 p.m. and went to a staging area near the zone’s perimeter, fire department spokesperson David Cuerpo told the Seattle Times. The fire department was soon notified that the injured person has already been taken away. Both victims in Saturday’s shooting — whose identities hadn’t yet been released — were also transported to the same hospital via private car. Seattle police tweeted that they had heard of a second shooting that they were unable to verify, given “conflicting reports.” Further details about what transpired Sunday night weren’t immediately available. It wasn’t clear whether anyone was in custody. The CHOP zone is a several-block area cordoned off by protesters near a police station in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. President Donald Trump, a Republican, has criticized Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats, for allowing the zone. (AP)
A pre-dawn shooting in a park in Seattle’s protest zone killed a 19-year-old man and critically injured another person, authorities said Saturday. The shooting happened at about 2:30 a.m. in the area near the city’s downtown that is known as CHOP, which stands for “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest,” police said. Officers responding to the shooting initially had trouble getting to the scene because they were “were met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims,” police said on their blog. Two males with gunshot wounds arrived in a private vehicle at Harborview Medical Center at about 3 a.m., said hospital spokesperson Susan Gregg. The 19-year-old man died and the other person was in critical condition in the intensive care unit. The suspect or suspects fled and investigators had no description of the shooter or shooters as of Saturday morning, police said. “Homicide detectives responded and are conducting a thorough investigation, despite the challenges presented by the circumstances,” police said. Investigators were reviewing public-source video and body-camera video for clues, Seattle Police Sgt. Lauren Truscott told The Seattle Times. The CHOP zone is an area where protesters cordoned off several blocks near a police station in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood following demonstrations against police violence since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis several weeks ago. Seattle police largely retreated from the zone after clashes with protesters ended with people throwing things at police and police tear gassing people and using other crowd control munitions. Protesters and others have said the police overreacted. City officials have said they are still communicating with protest leaders, who had pledged to keep the peace in the zone. The president of the union representing more than 1,000 of Seattle’s police officers, Mike Solan, told Fox News that “violence has now besieged the area known as CHOP and it is no longer the summer of love, it’s the summer of chaos.” Hours after the shooting, the scene in the protest zone was quiet. People pushed baby strollers and other visitors milled about in the cool, cloudy weather, taking photos of themselves with CHOP signs. Protest organizers held a meeting to discuss the early morning shootings and some protest volunteers patrolled the area carrying guns. They did not interfere with anyone entering or leaving the zone. The zone has drawn the continued ire of President Donald Trump. His tweets about possibly sending in the military have been met with condemnation from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats. Asked about the shooting Saturday, Inslee said “we need to have a way for the community to have a way to speak and for police and fire services to be provided.” Inslee added: “One way or another we obviously need to provide a way to offer protection for people, and that’s a necessity.” (AP)
A King County jury this morning found Naveed Haq guilty of eight counts, including aggravated first-degree murder, in the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle. The murder verdict carries an automatic life sentence for Haq. The jury also found Haq, 34, guilty of five counts of attempted first-degree murder, one count of unlawful imprisonment and one count of malicious harassment, the state’s hate-crime law. Haq showed no reaction as the verdicts were read, but several people in the courtroom tearfully hugged. The jury had been weighing eight criminal counts against Haq since Thursday after seven weeks of testimony. This was Haq’s second trial on the shootings. His first trial ended in a mistrial. “We are grateful that justice for this heinous hate crime has finally been served,” Richard Fruchter, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation, said in a statement issued after the verdicts were announced. “Our hearts go out to the survivors of this shooting and their families, who bravely endured not only the shooting but two trials.” Several of the victims were seated in the courtroom this morning as the verdicts were read. They testified during both trials, reliving their ordeals. In addition, several Seattle police officers who investigated the shootings were in the courtroom. Haq opened fire in the federation offices on July 28, 2006, killing employee Pamela Waechter, 58, and wounding Cheryl Stumbo, Carol Goldman, Dayna Klein, Christina Rexroad and Layla Bush. Prosecutors said he was driven by a hatred for Israel. Erin Ehlert, senior deputy prosecutor, spoke on behalf of the victims after the verdicts were read. “I feel a lot of finality for a lot of people … a calming peace that the right thing was done.” “I’m happy it’s over,” added Seattle police Detective Dana Duffy, who helped investigate the shootings. “I’m happy with the verdict.” Haq’s first trial ended in a mistrial in June 2008, when jurors announced after nearly two weeks of deliberations that they were deadlocked on all but one of the 15 criminal counts. Prosecutors immediately announced they would retry Haq. Prosecutors reduced the number of charges to simplify deliberations for jurors in the second trial. They eliminated seven of the charges from Haq’s case, including one count of first-degree burglary, five counts of malicious harassment and one count of kidnapping. The second jury deliberated on eight counts — one count of aggravated first-degree murder; five counts of attempted first-degree murder; one count of unlawful imprisonment; and one count of malicious harassment, the state’s hate-crime law. The focus of the second trial was Haq’s mental state at the time of the attack. The defense did not dispute that Haq carried out the shootings, but argued that he was legally insane at the time. Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and the defense produced several mental-health experts who testified that he was mentally ill. Defense attorneys had asked that Haq be sent to a state mental hospital rather than prison. Prosecutors agreed that Haq has a mental illness, but contended that he was sane when he entered the federation and opened fire. “He wanted to kill these women,” Senior Deputy Prosecutor Erin Ehlert told the jury during her closing argument on Thursday. “He knew exactly what his intent was when he walked in there. He
A Seattle police SWAT team this morning swarmed a Leschi home surrounded overnight but did not find suspected cop killer Maurice Clemmons inside. A murder warrant has been issued for Clemmons, the man suspected of killing four Lakewood police officers Sunday in a Parkland coffee shop, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. Police had surrounded the home late Sunday night and Troyer said the search of the house finished shortly after 7 a.m. Officers searched with a robot before SWAT officers moved in. There is a $125,000 reward for information leading to Clemmons’ capture. Clemmons was shot and perhaps seriously wounded by one of the slain officers Sunday morning, Troyer said. “He has suffered a gunshot wound,” Troyer said at a media briefing held just before 3 a.m. Police know that Clemmons was wounded because they have detained other people — Troyer wouldn’t say how many — who helped Clemmons after the shootings. At the briefing, Troyer said police now consider Clemmons a suspect, rather than merely a “person of interest.” Police don’t know the severity of Clemmons’ wound, and Troyer said he may already be dead. Investigators have no indication that Clemmons had a motive aimed specifically at any of the particular officers who were gunned down, Troyer said. “He was upset about being incarcerated,” Troyer said. “He was just targeting cops.” A trailer on the property where police first thought Clemmons was hiding was empty when officers entered it early this morning. A short time earlier, they had issued an ultimatum for anyone inside the trailer to come out, but got no response. That was followed by a series of flash-bangs, distraction devices which can temporarily blind a suspect. Discharges of what appeared to be tear gas followed. SWAT teams and police negotiators had surrounded the house at East Yesler Way and 32nd Avenue South earlier in the day based on tips given to police. Police responded to the home around 8:44 p.m. Sunday. A woman who was leaving the home was stopped by officers and told them Clemmons was on the property and bleeding. The woman told police that someone had dropped Clemmons off at his aunt’s home, on East Superior Street. Clemmons’ sister, Latanya Clemmons, said Sunday night she was near her aunt’s house waiting to see what happens. She also said she and her cousin, Cicely, were trying to call their aunt and Maurice in the house but they were getting no answer. Police told residents to stay inside and keep their doors locked. The series of events leading up to the house in Leschi began more than 16 hours earlier at an upscale coffee shop in Parkland, Pierce County, a hangout for officers that became the scene of the deadliest attack on law enforcement in state history. Four officers were shot and killed at 8:15 a.m. as they worked on their laptops at Forza Coffee Company in Parkland. The first two officers were “flat-out executed,” while the third tried to stop the gunman and the fourth fired at him, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said. Those killed were identified as Sgt. Mark Renninger, 39, and officers Ronald Owens, 37, Tina Griswold, 40, and Gregory Richards, 42. Clemmons has a long criminal record in Arkansas and Washington. He was released from custody in
Three years after the deadly shooting, and 17 months since jurors hearing the case deadlocked, accused Greater Seattle Jewish Federation gunman Naveed Haq will again face a jury. The facts of the case remain, as all sides acknowledge, clear — Haq left the Tri-Cities on July 28, 2006, drove to the center, where he gunned down federation worker Pam Waechter and wounded five other women. Equally clear and uncontested is Haq’s history of mental illness, which prosecutors admit while arguing that Haq’s psychological state the day of the shooting does not meet the threshold set for a not guilty verdict. That clarity will be of little assistance to jurors, who will be asked to determine whether Haq’s mind was clouded by psychotic delusion, as his attorneys claim, or simple hate. In police reports left largely unchallenged by Haq’s defense team, investigators describe the terror felt by those at the Belltown neighborhood office as Haq barged into the center with a gun at the back of a teenage girl. Having gained entry to the secure Third Avenue facility, Haq spoke to the girl before releasing her. “I’m only doing this for a statement,” Haq allegedly said. Arriving at the center’s reception desk, according to police statements, Haq opened fire on workers there; Haq allegedly chased down Waechter, already injured in the initial shooting, and shot her in the head as she attempted to flee. Then, holding a gun to the head of a injured woman who was 17 weeks pregnant at the time, Haq offered his demands to a 911 operator. Offering his name and social security number, Haq allegedly went on to demand that the United States military leave Iraq, complained that Muslims in the Middle East were “getting pushed around” by Israel and asked to be connected with CNN. When the operator told him she couldn’t make that happen, he agreed to surrender to police. Following the shooting, Haq made numerous anti-Semitic comments to investigators. In addition to an aggravated murder charge which would carry a mandatory life sentence and several attempted murder charges, King County prosecutors have charged Haq under the state hate crime statute. Now, though, Haq’s attorneys point to those statements and his outlandish demands as evidence that Haq, now 34, was insane at the time of the crime. Such a finding, were the jury to make it, would see Haq confined at a state hospital until he was deemed fit to be released. The key questions for jurors will likely be whether Haq could “perceive the nature and quality” of his alleged actions or “tell right from wrong” while committing them. If his mental illness prevented him from making either distinction, a finding of not guilty by reason of insanity would follow under state law. Following the 2008 deadlock, jurors said they were hung-up on whether Haq acted with premeditation, a predicate for aggravated first-degree murder. One juror said she was prepared to find that Haq was insane at the time of the shooting. In the trial set to begin Wednesday morning, prosecutors will bring a potentially key piece of evidence in that regard — tapes of jailhouse phone calls made by Haq in the weeks following his arrest. According to court documents, Haq tells his mother he is a “soldier of Islam” and argues
6:35PM EST: According to KIRO 7 Eyewitness News, the judge in the case of the Jewish Federation office shootings has declared a mistrial after the jury said they were deadlocked on all 15 charges against Naveed Haq. The jury was deliberating whether 32-year-old Haq would go to a prison or a mental hospital. Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to murder, attempted murder and other charges. Two of the victims in the July 2006 shootings in which one woman was killed and four others were wounded were in the courtroom, along with the head of the Jewish Federation, when the decision was announced. Click HERE to read all stories posted by YWN regarding this incident, beginning with the initial shooting in July 2006. (Source: KIRO 7 TV / Lipas)
The last victim of the Jewish center shooting in Seattle still in the hospital is scheduled to be released tomorrow from Harborview Medical Center. After weeks in intensive care and still carrying a bullet in her spine, Layla Bush can walk with the help of a walker and says she’s improving every day.
In the aftermath of the elementary school massacre in Uvalde, Texas, schools around the U.S. have brought in additional security staff and restricted visitors as they deal with a new rash of copycat threats. For some families and educators it all has added to uneasiness in the wake of the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Jake Green, 34, of Los Alamos, New Mexico, was jolted when he saw a plainclothes police officer for the first time while walking his 7-year-old daughter into school Friday morning. He grew up in Colorado, not far from where two Columbine High School students shot and killed 12 classmates and a teacher in 1999. Green remembers attending memorials and candlelight vigils as a fifth-grader, but he’s torn about whether having police at his daughter’s school is best. “In a way, I don’t really feel any safer with police around,” Green said. “Seeing the police there, it really made it seem like the worst possibility was even more possible today.” In El Paso, Texas, where a gunman killed 23 people in a racist 2019 attack that targeted Hispanics at a Walmart, schools are on edge. The El Paso Independent School District has already encountered some reported threats that turned out to be false. They were either “students joking or overly-sensitive parents,” said Gustavo Reveles Acosta, a district spokesperson. “Our community is still raw from that incident,” Acosta said. “It hits us in a pretty emotional way.” The district, which has its own police department, has also stepped up patrolling at all 85 campuses. Officers have been pulled from monitoring traffic or other duties. Schools already have updated camera surveillance systems. Visitors are required to ring a doorbell and show identification before they can enter. The district is making a point to look out for teachers’ and students’ mental health. A counseling team has been visiting every school to speak about the shooting in Uvalde. They are also urging people to talk in private about any distress. Mia Baucom, a 15-year-old student at a Forth Worth, Texas, high school said it was surreal to think the Uvalde killings happened in her home state. It also stirred memories of a lockdown at her school two months ago that was prompted by a shooting. “I’m a little more stressed out about it because just the fear of what if that happened at my school?” said Baucom, whose last day of school was Thursday. “Let’s say we get more police officers. Most likely that’s not going to stop people from going crazy and just shooting up schools.” Schools have ramped up police presence in a host of states, including Connecticut, Michigan and New York, after the shooting Tuesday that left 19 students and two teachers dead. In Buffalo, New York, where a white gunman fatally shot 10 people in a racist attack in a supermarket on May 14, the largest school district announced new security rules effective immediately. Any visitors — parents, siblings, vendors — have to call ahead for approval. No exceptions will be made. They may be subjected to a search by a wand detector. Doors will be locked at all times. In Jacksonville, Florida, the Duval County Public Schools’ chief of school police banned backpacks or large handbags at any
A series of shootings over nearly an hour at three Atlanta-area spas left eight people dead and raised fears that the attack was another hate crime against Asian Americans. Police arrested a white 21-year-old Georgia man and said the motive for Tuesday night’s attacks wasn’t immediately known, though many of the victims were women of Asian descent. “We’re in a place where we’ve seen an increase in hate crimes against Asian Americans since the pandemic started,” said Georgia state Rep. Bee Nguyen. “It’s hard to think it is not targeted specifically toward our community.” The attacks began Tuesday evening, when five people were shot at Youngs Asian Spa near Woodstock, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of Atlanta, Cherokee County Sheriff’s spokesman Capt. Jay Baker said. Two people died at the scene, and three were taken to a hospital where two died, Baker said. About an hour later, police responding to a call about a robbery found three women dead from apparent gunshot wounds at Gold Spa near Atlanta’s Buckhead area, where tattoo parlors are just blocks away from mansions and skyscrapers in one of the last ungentrified holdouts in that part of the city. Officers then learned of a call reporting shots fired across the street, at Aromatherapy Spa, and found another woman apparently shot dead. “It appears that they may be Asian,” Atlanta Police Chief Rodney Bryant said. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden has been briefed on the “horrific shootings” and would receive an update later Wednesday from Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray. Little is known about the suspect, Robert Aaron Long, of Woodstock, and authorities haven’t specified charges. While the motive for the attack also remained unclear, many members of the Asian American community saw the shootings as an attack on them, given a recent wave of assaults that coincided with the spread of the coronavirus across the United States. The virus was first identified in China, and then-President Donald Trump and others have used racially charged terms like “Chinese virus” to describe it. Over the past year, thousands of incidents of abuse have been reported to an anti-hate group that tracks incidents against Asian Americans, and hate crimes in general are at the highest level in more than a decade. “We are heartbroken by these acts of violence,” Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Atlanta said in a statement. “While the details of the shootings are still emerging, the broader context cannot be ignored. The shootings happened under the trauma of increasing violence against Asian Americans nationwide, fueled by white supremacy and systemic racism.” Police in Atlanta and other major cities deplored the killings, and some said they would increase patrols in Asian American communities. Seattle’s mayor said “the violence in Atlanta was an act of hate,” and San Francisco police tweeted #StopAsianHate. The New York City Police counterterrorism unit said it was on alert for similar attacks. Other civil liberties groups and prominent Americans also expressed their dismay. The Rev. Bernice King, daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., said she’s “deeply saddened that we live in a nation and world permeated by hate and violence. I stand with Asian members of our World House, who are a part of our global human family.” Former President
The Justice Department identified New York City, Portland, Oregon, and Seattle as three cities that could have federal funding slashed under a memorandum by President Donald Trump that sought to identify localities that permit “anarchy, violence and destruction in American cities.” The designation, which could open the door for the federal government to cut off some funding to the cities, drew immediate criticism from local elected officials. It comes as Trump throughout the summer has cast American cities run by Democratic mayors as under siege by violence and lawlessness, despite the fact that most of the demonstrations against racial injustice have been largely peaceful. An attempt to cut off federal funding to the cities would likely be met with immediate legal challenges and several federal judges ruled in favor of municipalities over similar attempts to withhold funding tied to immigration policies. The Justice Department said the three cities were designated because they meet four main criteria, including “whether a jurisdiction forbids the police force from intervening to restore order amid widespread or sustained violence or destruction” and whether the city “disempowers or defunds police departments.” In Seattle, officials pointed to the “occupied” protest zone, also known as the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone, or CHOP, which emerged during nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, though Seattle police officers wearing helmets and wielding batons and rifles, cleared the area by force on July 1. In Portland, they pointed to 100 consecutive nights of protests “marred by vandalism, chaos, and even killing” and in New York City, the Justice Department pointed to a skyrocketing number of shootings throughout the five boroughs. It is not the first time the Justice Department has attempted to take action against city officials for the violent demonstrations. The department also explored whether it could pursue either criminal or civil rights charges against city officials in Portland after clashes erupted there night after night between law enforcement and demonstrators. For weeks, hundreds of demonstrators gathered outside the federal courthouse in Portland, some throwing bricks, rocks and other projectiles at officers, leading officers to fire volleys of tear gas and pepper balls at the crowd. “When state and local leaders impede their own law enforcement officers and agencies from doing their jobs, it endangers innocent citizens who deserve to be protected, including those who are trying to peacefully assemble and protest,” Attorney General William Barr said in a statement. “We cannot allow federal tax dollars to be wasted when the safety of the citizenry hangs in the balance.” Barr said he hoped the designation would convince the cities to “reverse course and become serious about performing the basic function of government and start protecting their own citizens.” The attorney general’s statement drew immediate condemnation from New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo, both Democrats, who accused the Trump administration of politicization of law enforcement. “This is just another one of President Trump’s games,” de Blasio said. Trump has heaped blame for the unrest on Democrats, who are leading the cities where violence has occurred, and tried to focus squarely on pockets of protest-related violence instead of the larger point of the racial injustice movement. In a joint statement, de Blasio, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan decried
Three Major League Baseball games were postponed Wednesday as players across the sports landscape drove the decisions in the wake of the weekend shooting by police of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin. Games between the Cincinnati Reds and Brewers in Milwaukee, Seattle Mariners and Padres in San Diego and the Los Angeles Dodgers and Giants in San Francisco were called off hours before they were set to begin. “There are serious issues in this country,” Seattle’s Dee Gordon tweeted. “For me, and for many of my teammates, the injustices, violence, death and systemic racism is deeply personal. This is impacting not only my community, but very directly my family and friends. Our team voted unanimously not to play tonight.” Other MLB games had finished, were in progress or just about to start as the announcements were made. Some players, such as outfielders Jason Heyward of the Cubs and Matt Kemp of the Rockies, sat out while their teams played. All three postponed games will be made up as doubleheaders Thursday. There was the possibility, too, that other games around the majors could affected — two days before MLB was set to celebrate Jackie Robinson Day. The baseball postponements came after the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks didn’t come out on the floor for Game 5 of their first-round playoff series with the Orlando Magic on Wednesday afternoon at Lake Buena Vista, Florida. NBA officials later announced that all three of the day’s scheduled playoff games had been postponed. Three WNBA games also were called off inside the league’s bubble in Bradenton, Florida. “Given the pain in the communities of Wisconsin and beyond following the shooting of Jacob Blake, we respect the decisions of a number of players not to play tonight. Major League Baseball remains united for change in our society and we will be allies in the fight to end racism and injustice,” MLB said in a statement. Said players’ union head Tony Clark: “At this critical time, players have been deeply affected by the recent events in Wisconsin and by similar events in other parts of the country. We are proud of the stand that our players have taken, and we remain committed to supporting their efforts to effect change in MLB communities and beyond.” Blake was shot multiple times by police in Kenosha, about 40 miles south of Milwaukee. The Blake family’s attorney said Blake was paralyzed and that it would “take a miracle” for him to walk again. The shooting of the 29-year-old Blake was captured on cellphone video Sunday and ignited protests in Kenosha and elsewhere. Brewers star Christian Yelich said he exchanged texts with Bucks guard Pat Connaughton to let him know they wouldn’t be playing at Miller Park and that “we wanted to be united with them in what they started.” Brewers player representative Brent Suter said he informed Cincinnati’s Mike Moustakas and pitcher Wade Miley — both former Brewers — of the decision. “They just said flat out, ‘We support you guys no matter what. Whatever you decide to do, we’re all in favor. We want to follow your lead,’” Suter said. “So that was a great comfort for us going to the meeting.” Dodgers star Mookie Betts, who is Black, told his teammates he was sitting out and they backed him.
Seattle police turned out in force early Wednesday at the city’s “occupied” protest zone, tore down demonstrators’ encampments and used bicycles to herd the protesters after the mayor ordered the area cleared following two fatal shootings in less than two weeks. Television images showed police, many in riot gear, confronting dozens of protesters at the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone that was set up near downtown following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Wearing helmets and wielding batons and rifles, officers converged on the area at dawn. Officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder on several streets while others created a makeshift fence with their bicycles, using it to push protesters back away from the center of the zone. As residents of the neighborhood near the city’s downtown watched from balconies, police cleared out the protesters’ tents from a park within the zone and made sure no one was left in the park’s bathrooms. At one point, a loud bang was heard in the park, followed by a cloud of smoke. One man dressed in black was peacefully lead away in handcuff and other demonstrators sat on the ground until their small group was handcuffed and detained. Police Chief Carmen Best said there were at least 23 arrests. “Our job is to support peaceful demonstration but what has happened on these streets over the last two weeks is lawless and it’s brutal and bottom line it is simply unacceptable,” Best told reporters. Police also tore down fences that protesters had erected around their tents and used batons to poke inside bushes, apparently looking for people who might be hiding inside. One officer took down a sign saying “we are not leaving until our demands are met: 1. Defund SPD by 50% now. 2. Fund Black Communities. 3. Free all protesters.” After police dispersed the protesters, heavy equipment was brought in to remove the concrete barriers that demonstrators had erected in to block roads. Debis from the encampments was carted away on flatbed trucks as officers strung yellow caution tape from tree to tree warning people not to reenter. During the operation to clear out protesters, officers investigated several vehicles that circled the area after police saw people inside them “with firearms/armor,” police said in a tweet, adding that the vehicles did not appear to have “visible license plates.” The protesters had occupied several blocks around a park for about two weeks and police abandoned a precinct station following standoffs and clashes with the protesters, who called for racial justice and an end to police brutality. Police acted after Mayor Jenny Durkan issued the order for protesters to leave. “Since demonstrations at the East Precinct area began on June 8th, two teenagers have been killed and three people have been seriously wounded in late-night shootings,” police tweeted. “Police have also documented robberies, assaults, and other violent crimes. The tweet added that “suspects in recent shootings may still be in the area, and because numerous people in the area are in possession of firearms.” Best said she supports peaceful demonstrations but that the zone had “become lawless and brutal. Four shootings–-two fatal—robberies, assaults, violence and countless property crimes have occurred in this several block area.” There had been mounting calls by critics, including President Donald Trump, to remove protesters following the fatal shootings. Protesters
Atlanta police officers called out sick Thursday to protest the filing of murder charges against an officer who shot a man in the back, while the interim chief acknowledged members of the force feel abandoned amid protests demanding massive changes to policing. Interim Chief Rodney Bryant told The Associated Press in an interview that the sick calls began Wednesday night and continued Thursday, but said the department has sufficient staff to protect the city. It’s not clear how many officers have called out. “Some are angry. Some are fearful. Some are confused on what we do in this space. Some may feel abandoned,” Bryant said of the officers. “But we are there to assure them that we will continue to move forward and get through this.” Prosecutors brought felony murder and other charges against Garrett Rolfe, a white officer who shot Rayshard Brooks after the 27-year-old black man grabbed a Taser during a struggle and ran, firing it at the officer, Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard said. Howard said Brooks was not a deadly threat at the time and that the officer kicked the wounded man and offered no medical treatment for over two minutes as he lay dying. Another officer, Devin Brosnan, who the district attorney said stood on Brooks’ shoulder as he struggled for his life, was charged with aggravated assault and violation of his oath. Rolfe and Brosnan both contend their actions were justified and turned themselves in Thursday. Jail records show Brosnan was released on a $30,000 signature bond, meaning he only has to pay if he fails to show up for court, while Rolfe was being held without bond. Rolfe has been fired and Brosnan placed on desk duty. The decision to prosecute the officers came less than five days after the killing rocked a city — and a nation — still reeling after George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis set off nationwide protests that have urged an extensive rethink of policing and an examination of racism in the United States. L. Chris Stewart, a lawyer for Tomika Miller, Brooks’ widow, told reporters the charging of the officers brought the family no joy. “Some people thought that we’d be happy and be celebrating and have a fist in the air, but it’s more a disappointment that this is the state of policing and this is where we’re at,” he said. Bryant, who took over after the previous chief resigned resigned in the wake of the shooting, wore a navy blue shirt Thursday, rather than the white shirt typically worn by command staff, to show solidarity with the officers. In the roughly three weeks since protests of Floyd’s killing first broke out in Georgia’s capital, officers have worked shifts of 12 or more hours and have been yelled at, spit on and had things thrown at them, Bryant said. “At some point, people get tired, I recognize that, and physically exhausted,” he said. “We will definitely get beyond it, and I’m certain that we will see our sick-outs drop back to normal, average.” The weeks since Floyd’s killing have seen lawmakers pass police reforms, Americans reconsider statues commemorating controversial figures, and ideas like defunding police become part of the national conversation. The largest labor group in the Seattle area voted to
Just days after Seattle’s mayor and police chief promised a month-long moratorium on using a type of tear gas to disperse protesters, the department used it again during an overnight protest, bringing severe criticism Monday from City Council members, vows to overhaul the department and another call for the mayor’s resignation. “How many people need to write in about being gassed in their own homes? How many people have to be sprayed in the street every night or experience getting hit with flash bombs or rubber bullets?” Council Member Teresa Mosqueda said during a council briefing. “The mayor should … ask herself if she is the right leader, and resign.” Council President Lorena Gonzalez and others also expressed their frustration with Mayor Jenny Durkan and the police, signaling radical change could be on the way. Socialist Council Member Kshama Sawant had already called for Durkan’s resignation. Gonzalez said the time is past for mere reform of the police department, and the council must think in a “transformational way” about how the city views public safety and funds the police. “When I hear people say there’s just a few bad apples on the police force, I adamantly disagree with that,” said Council Member Debra Juarez. “It’s just not a healthy tree. We need to plant a new tree.” Durkan’s office did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment. In a subsequent interview, Mosqueda said that while she believes the mayor should consider resigning, changing who heads the city is less important than systemic change in its approach to public safety. The developments in Seattle came soon after Minneapolis City Council members said they intend to disband the city’s police department following the killing of George Floyd and protests against police brutality and racism that have erupted around the globe. Mosqueda, the Seattle council’s budget chair, announced an inquest into the police budget to get a better understanding of how the department spends money. She said she wants to cut police funding by half and reinvest the money “in communities that we’ve failed,” including in affordable housing and mass transit. The mayhem Sunday night in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood happened for a second night in a row, after a couple nights of peaceful protests. Police used flash bangs and tear gas to break up a crowd after authorities said people threw rocks and fireworks at officers. Earlier Sunday evening, in an incident captured in dramatic video, a man drove a car at protesters, hit a barricade and is suspected of shooting a 27-year-old protester who had reached into the driver’s side window in an attempt to stop him. The protester, who was shot in the shoulder, walked away from the scene while being attended to by medics, and police said they arrested the driver, identified as Nikolas Fernandez, for investigation of assault after he got out of the car brandishing a handgun. Fernandez waived an initial court appearance Monday and was being held on $200,000 bail, KING-TV reported. It was not immediately clear if he had a lawyer who could speak for him. Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best told MSNBC on Monday that the driver’s motive is not known but it was clear that he was driving into the crowd and not having a mechanical problem. Hours later, the crowd
The parents of a young woman killed in the 2017 Las Vegas massacre said Wednesday they blame gun manufacturers for their daughter’s death. “Someone murdered our daughter,” said James Parsons, whose 31-year-old daughter Carrie Parsons was one of 58 people killed when a gunman rained down gunfire from a high-rise hotel. “Someone should be held accountable for that.” A wrongful death lawsuit filed Tuesday targets Colt and seven other gun manufacturers, along with gun shops in Nevada and Utah, arguing their weapons are designed to be easily modified to fire like automatic weapons. “It was a horrifying, agonizing experience and we don’t want this to happen to other families,” Parsons told The Associated Press of the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The lawsuit is the latest case to challenge a federal law shielding gun manufacturers from liability. It charges that gun makers marketed the ability of the AR-15-style weapons to be easily modified to mimic machine guns and fire continuously, violating both a state and federal ban on automatic weapons. A firearms industry group said Wednesday the man who opened fire on a country music concert is the only one responsible for the deaths. Parsons and his wife Ann-Marie argue in the lawsuit that the firearms are “thinly disguised” machine guns that the manufacturers knew could be easily modified, even without the use of a “bump stock,” an attachment used by the Las Vegas gunman that allowed him to fire in rapid succession. The Trump administration banned bump stocks this year, making it illegal to possess them under the same federal laws that prohibit machine guns. “We understand this is an uphill battle,” Ann-Marie Parsons told the AP on Wednesday from their home in suburban Seattle. “But somebody has got to do something because the carnage continues.” “Losing our daughter is the worst thing that ever happened to us. It is hurtful to us every time we see these things happen,” she said. The lawsuit charges the manufacturers showed a “reckless lack of regard for public safety” by advertising the firearms “as military weapons and signaling the weapon’s ability to be simply modified.” It alleges there are dozens of videos online showing people how to install bump stocks. “It was only a question of when – not if – a gunman would take advantage of the ease of modifying AR-15s to fire automatically in order to substantially increase the body count,” the lawsuit states. Courts have typically rejected lawsuits against gun manufacturers and dealers in other high-profile shooting attacks, citing a 2005 federal law that shields gun makers from liability in most cases when their products are used in crimes. Neither Colt nor any of the other manufacturers immediately responded to requests for comment from The Associated Press. But a national trade association formed on behalf of the firearms industry in 1961 said in an email to AP on Wednesday there is no legal basis for the lawsuit. Lawrence G. Keane, senior vice president and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said the responsibility for the tragedy in Las Vegas “rests with the criminal who committed the violent and reprehensible acts.” “It is wrong to blame the manufacturers of legal, non-defective products lawfully sold for the actions of a madman,” he wrote. “Doing so would be
The developer of a school-shooting video game is vowing to continue selling it online as parents of slain children and other mass shooting victims work to get the game wiped off the internet. The “Active Shooter” game was created by Anton Makarevskiy, a 21-year-old developer from Moscow, Russia, and is being marketed by his entity Acid Software. Acid said in a Twitter posting Tuesday that it will not be censored and cited free expression rights. The game is branded as a “SWAT simulator” that lets players choose between being an active shooter terrorizing a school or the SWAT team responding to the shooting. Players can choose a gun, grenade or knife, and civilian and police death totals are shown on the screen. Acid had been selling an early version of the game online for $20 and plans to release a new version next month. Acid recently set up two websites for “Active Shooter” after the game was removed from the webpages of video game marketplace Steam and crowdfunding site Indiegogo, which is refunding contributors. The removals followed complaints and online petitions by anti-gun violence advocates including parents of children killed in school shootings in Parkland, Florida, and Newtown, Connecticut. “You cannot censor us and what we do,” an Acid Twitter posting said . “Our game does not violate any ToS (terms of service) nor promotes any violence and/or extremism. #ActiveShooter will remain on our website and continue its course!” One of the sites included a discussion section where one person recommended adding more “blood from shot civilians (LOTS AND LOTS)” and increasing noise and chaos to add to “the drama.” The new webpages were shut down Tuesday night by Bluehost, the Burlington, Massachusetts, company that hosted the new sites, according to Acid. A representative of the company said the sites were up and running again Wednesday afternoon using Russian servers. Representatives of Bluehost did not return a message seeking comment. Bluehost was asked to remove the sites in an online petition organized by Sandy Hook Promise, an anti-gun violence group formed by parents whose children were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown in December 2012. Twenty first-graders and six educators were shot to death at the school, including Nicole Hockley’s son, Dylan. “Even more than five years later, I’m still not ready to face all the details of Dylan’s last moments,” Hockley said in an email urging people to sign the petition to Bluehost. “The fact that someone has programmed such details into a game for others to play is beyond sickening.” The game also was recently condemned by parents of children killed at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. Ata Berdyev, of Seattle, who is helping Makarevskiy promote the game, told The Associated Press in emails Tuesday that the new sites generated about 300 free downloads of a demo, 14 sales of the initial game version and four pre-orders of the new version in less than a day. Berdyev said Makarevskiy “does not keep up with US news” and the release of the game was “just a bad timing.” “He obviously expected some criticism, but not as much as it got,” Berdyev wrote. “It’s a video game, not reality. It also does not promote any violence or hate. People need to focus on real-life issues
A Seattle-area company has removed a school shooting video game from its online platform following widespread backlash. The “Active Shooter” video game was pulled days before it was to be released on the video game marketplace Steam. Valve Corp. as Steam’s parent company said Tuesday that it was removing the computer video game because the developer was a “troll with a history of customer abuse.” The game was developed by Revived Games, published by Acid and led by a person named Ata Berdiyev. Valve spokesman Doug Lombardi says Berdiyev had previously been kicked off the platform under a different business name. The game allows players to re-create school shootings by stalking school hallways and racking up kills. It was condemned by the parents of students killed during a Florida school shooting in February. The Seattle Times reports that an online petition urging Valve to pull the game before its scheduled June 6 release had more than 100,000 signatures. Valve is a privately held company which has developed popular games such as “Dota 2” and “Half-Life.” (AP)
The Seattle judge derided by President Donald Trump on Twitter Saturday after blocking Trump’s executive order on immigration is known for his conservative legal views, for a record of helping disadvantaged children that includes fostering six of them, and for dramatically declaring “black lives matter” during a hearing on police reform in 2015. Judge James L. Robart, 69, was appointed to the bench by President George W. Bush in 2004, following a distinguished 30-year career in private practice that included his selection to the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honor bestowed on less than 1 percent of lawyers. The judge made the most high-profile ruling of his tenure Friday when he temporarily invalidated Trump’s ban on travel to the U.S. from seven primarily Muslim nations. Washington state sued to block the order — with support from Minnesota and major corporations including Microsoft, Amazon and Expedia — arguing that it’s unconstitutional and would harm its residents, and Robart held that the state was likely correct. The ruling did not sit well with the president, who on Twitter called Robart a “so-called judge” and the ruling “ridiculous.” The president later falsely claimed the decision meant “anyone, even with bad intentions, can come into U.S.” The comments are unlikely to sway Robart, said those who know him. “Jim will give a wry smile, maybe adjust his bowtie a little bit and go back to doing his business,” said former Seattle U.S. attorney John McKay, who worked with Robart for a decade at the law firm of Lane Powell Spears Lubersky. “He’s a very careful judge, and he’s conservative in the sense he looks at the law and tries to determine what that is, not what he wants. He’s conservative in his review of the law, but courageous in his application of it.” Another former Seattle U.S. attorney, Jenny Durkan, called Robart exacting: “We won some in front of him and we lost some in front of him, but we knew anytime we walked into his courtroom we’d better be prepared.” That was evident Friday when Robart grilled a Justice Department lawyer, Michelle Bennett, asking if there had been any terrorist attacks by people from the seven counties since 9/11. Bennett said she didn’t know. “The answer is none,” Robart said. “You’re here arguing we have to protect from these individuals from these countries, and there’s no support for that.” Robart, a graduate of Georgetown Law School, is an expert in patent and intellectual property law, and he issued a landmark decision — later upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals — in a lawsuit between Microsoft and Motorola that provided guidance in how to calculate reasonable rates for use of another company’s patents. He’s considered a tough sentencing judge in criminal matters, especially in cases involving white-collar defendants, and he has overseen reforms at the Seattle Police Department since 2012, when it agreed to make changes in response to Justice Department findings that its officers were too quick to use force, especially in low-level situations. Robart was holding a hearing in that case in summer 2015 — a time fraught with tension over violence by and against police officers around the country — when he surprised the courtroom by adopting the mantra of protesters. “The importance of this issue to
The 20-year-old man suspected of killing five people with a rifle at a Macy’s makeup counter was described by a neighbor as so “creepy, rude and obnoxious” that she kept a Taser by her front door. He also had a string of run-ins with the law in recent years, including charges he assaulted his stepfather. As investigators tried to piece together information on Arcan Cetin, who was arrested Saturday evening after a nearly 24-hour manhunt, a picture emerged of a troubled young man. Court records show more than a half-dozen criminal cases in Island County alone since 2013. Authorities said the gunman in the attack at the Cascade Mall in Burlington opened fire in the department store’s cosmetics department Friday night, killing a man and four females ranging from a teenager to a senior citizen. The killer then fled. Cetin said nothing and appeared “zombie-like” when he was taken into custody on a sidewalk outside his apartment complex some 30 miles away in Oak Harbor by a sheriff’s officer who recognized him as the suspect in the rampage, authorities said. Cetin immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey and is a legal permanent resident, officials said. He is expected to make an initial court appearance Monday. As the surrounding area absorbed news of the arrest, critical questions remained, including the gunman’s motive. The FBI said early Saturday that there was no indication the shooting was terrorism, but local authorities said later in the day that they were ruling nothing out. On Sept. 17, a 20-year-old man stabbed 10 people at a Minnesota mall before being shot to death by an off-duty police officer. Authorities said they are investigating the attack by Dahir Ahmed Adan as a possible act of terrorism. On Sunday, investigators searched Cetin’s vehicle and the apartment complex and were seen carrying boxes from a rear, upstairs unit. The four-unit building was surrounded with yellow police tape. Detectives would not say what they found. Amber Cathey, 21, lived in an apartment next to Cetin for the past three months and said she was so frightened by him that she complained to apartment management and kept a stun gun handy. Cathey said she blocked him on Snapchat after he sent her a photo of his crotch. “He was really creepy, rude and obnoxious,” Cathey said. She said she would try to avoid him by walking the long way around to her apartment if she saw his car in the parking lot. The two were in high school together as well, and Cathey said he acted the same way then. The Seattle Times reported (http://bit.ly/2cWhxJY) that court records show Cetin faced three charges of assaulting his stepfather. The newspaper said Cetin also was arrested on drunken driving charges. It gave no details on when the arrests took place or how the cases may have been resolved. In the assault case, Cetin was told by a judge last December that he was not to possess a gun, the newspaper reported. However, the stepfather urged the judge not to impose a no-contact order, saying his stepson was “going through a hard time.” Attempts to reach Cetin’s family for comment by phone and social media weren’t immediately successful. It wasn’t clear if Cetin had a lawyer yet. A man who came to the door
The 20-year-old suspect in the deadly Washington state mall shooting said nothing and appeared “zombie-like” when he was arrested by authorities nearly 24 hours into an intense manhunt, authorities said. Island County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hawley said he spotted Arcan Cetin from a patrol car Saturday evening in Oak Harbor, Washington, and immediately recognized him as the suspect who killed five people at the Cascade Mall in nearby Burlington. Hawley said at a news conference they had received information that Cetin, of Oak Harbor, was in the area. Cetin, who immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey, is a legal permanent resident who has been living in Oak Harbor, authorities said. He had been arrested once before in the county for assault, Hawley said. “I literally hit my brakes, did a quick turn, I jumped out,” Hawley said. “We both jumped out with our guns, and he just froze.” Cetin was unarmed and was carrying a satchel with a computer in it. “He was kind of zombie-like,” Hawley said. The suspect’s arrest capped a frantic search following the slayings of five people the day before. The first 911 call came in just before 7 p.m. on a busy Friday at the Cascade Mall: A man with a rifle was shooting at people in the Macy’s department store. By the time police arrived moments later, the carnage at the Macy’s makeup counter was complete. Four people were dead, and the shooter was gone, last seen walking toward Interstate 5. The fifth victim, a man, died in the early morning hours Saturday as police finished sweeping the 434,000-square-foot building. “There are people waking up this morning, and their world has changed forever. The city of Burlington has probably changed forever, but I don’t think our way of life needs to change,” Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said Saturday at a news conference. Authorities said it now appears the rifle was brought into the mall from a suspect vehicle that was there, Mount Vernon police Lt. Chris Cammock said Saturday night. Cetin has not been charged, Cammock said. He will be booked into the Skagit County Jail and is expected to appear in Skagit County District Court on Monday. The Seattle Times reports (http://bit.ly/2cWhxJY) that Skagit County court records show three domestic-violence assault charges against Cetin. The victim was identified as Cetin’s stepfather. The newspaper reports Cetin also was arrested for drunken driving. Cetin was told by an Island County District Court judge on Dec. 29 that he was not to possess a firearm, the newspaper reported. However, the stepfather urged the judge not to impose a no-contact order, saying his stepson was “going through a hard time.” As the small city absorbed the tragic news, critical questions remained, including the shooter’s motive. Initially the suspect was described as Hispanic, but Hawley said that was based on initial witness statements to the shooting at the mall. Surveillance video captured the suspect entering the mall unarmed and then recorded him about 10 minutes later entering the Macy’s with a “hunting type” rifle in his hand, Cammock said. Authorities did not say how the suspect may have obtained the weapon — whether he retrieved it from outside or picked it up in the mall — but they believe he acted alone. The weapon was recovered at the
Authorities arrested a suspect Saturday evening in in the slayings of five people in the makeup department of a Macy’s store at a mall north of Seattle. Here are things to know about the shooting and the investigation: WHAT HAPPENED? Authorities say the gunman initially entered the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, without a weapon shortly before 7 p.m. Friday. About 10 minutes later, he appeared on surveillance video with a rifle and started shooting in the makeup department of the Macy’s store. Four females and a male were killed. His motive was unknown. WHAT ABOUT THE SUSPECT? Authorities say 20-year-old Arcan Cetin immigrated to the U.S. from Turkey. He is a legal permanent resident who has been living in Oak Harbor, Washington, where he was arrested. He had been arrested once before in the county for simple assault, authorities said. Cetin was unarmed and was carrying a satchel with a computer in it when was taken into custody. “He was kind of zombie-like,” Island County Sheriff’s Lt. Mike Hawley said. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday. HOW IS THE COMMUNITY REACTING? Residents of Burlington — an agricultural community of about 8,000 people about 60 miles north of Seattle — were anxious and afraid. Maria Elena Vasquez attended a community gathering Saturday, and she said she was nervous about taking her 7-year-old daughter to her soccer game. Mayor Steve Sexton said the city has “probably changed forever.” WHAT ABOUT THE VICTIMS? The identities of the victims — four women who ranged in age from a teenager to a senior citizen — were withheld on Saturday pending autopsies and notification of family. The identity of the man who was fatally shot was also withheld. The Seattle Times identified one of the victims as a 16-year-old girl. Sarai Lara’s mother said she had survived cancer as a young girl and was a happy student. Evangelina Lara told ( http://bit.ly/2cWhxJY ) the newspaper through a translator that she was shopping Friday night at the Cascade Mall in Burlington, Washington, with Sarai and her younger sister. (AP)
The first 911 call came in just before 7 p.m. on a busy Friday night at the Cascade Mall: A man with a rifle was shooting at people in the Macy’s Department Store. By the time police arrived moments later, the carnage at the Macy’s makeup counter was complete. Four people were dead and the shooter was gone, last seen walking toward Interstate 5. A fifth victim, a man, died in the early morning hours Saturday as police finished sweeping the 434,000-square-foot building. “There are people waking up this morning and their world has changed forever. The city of Burlington has probably changed forever, but I don’t think our way life needs to change,” Burlington Mayor Steve Sexton said Saturday at a news conference. “This was a senseless act. It was the world knocking on our doorstep and it came into our little community.” As the small city absorbed the news, critical questions remained, including the identity of the shooter, his motive and his whereabouts. A massive manhunt continued and police broadcast a plea for tips. The FBI said terrorism was not suspected. The gunman was described by witnesses to police as a young Hispanic man dressed in black. Surveillance video captured him entering the mall unarmed and then recorded him about 10 minutes later entering the Macy’s with a “hunting type” rifle in his hand, Mount Vernon Police Lt. Chris Cammock said. Authorities did not say how the suspect may have obtained the weapon – whether he retrieved it from outside or picked it up in the mall — but they believe he acted alone. The weapon was recovered at the scene. The identities of the victims — four women who ranged in age from a teenager to a senior citizen — were withheld pending autopsies and notification of family. The identity of the man who was fatally shot was also withheld. “Probably one of the most difficult moments for us last night was knowing that there were family members wondering about their loved ones in there,” Cammock said. As police scrambled to find the shooter, this small city about 60 miles (97 kilometers) north of Seattle settled into a new and nerve-wracking reality. The community of 8,600 people is too far from Seattle to be a commuter town, but its population swells to 55,000 during the day because of a popular outlet mall, retail stores and other businesses. Burlington is the only major retail center within 30 miles (48 kilometers) in a region where agriculture is king, said Linda Jones, the president of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce. Surrounding Skagit County has deep agricultural roots and is home to families that have worked the land for generations. Farmers produce about $300 million worth of more than 90 different crops a year — a heritage that’s celebrated each October with tours of family farms that attract thousands, according to Washington State University’s agricultural extension. Residents, rattled by the fact that the shooter was still on the loose, relied on those bonds Saturday to comfort each other at a community gathering in a city park. “It’s too scary. It’s too close to home,” said Maria Elena Vasquez, who attended the gathering with her husband and two young children. “I’m a little nervous even taking her to her soccer game today
Police in Washington state are asking the public to stop tweeting during shootings and manhunts to avoid accidentally telling the bad guys what officers are doing. The “TweetSmart” campaign began in late July by a coalition of nine agencies, including the Washington state patrol and the Seattle police, and aims to raise awareness about social media’s potential impact on law enforcement. Some have called the effort a step that could lead to censorship; others dismissed it as silly. Police, however, say it’s just a reminder at a time when cell phones and social networks can hasten the lightning-quick spread of information. A social media expert at the International Association of Chiefs of Police said she’s unaware of similar awareness campaigns elsewhere but the problem that prompted the outreach is growing. “All members of the public may not understand the implications of tweeting out a picture of SWAT team activity,” said Nancy Korb, who oversees the Alexandria, Virginia, organization’s Center for Social Media. “It’s a real safety issue, not only for officers but anyone in the vicinity,” Korb said. Korb said she is not aware of any social media post that has led to the injury of a police officer, but she said there have been a few close calls. Other times, tweets have interfered with investigations. In those cases, police tweet back and ask people to back off. Korb said citizen journalists generally respond well when the reasons are explained. “It’s not that they don’t want the public to share information,” she said. “It’s the timing of it.” Social media speculation and reports challenged Boston police during the search for the marathon bombers. Two recent incidents led the Washington State Patrol to organize the “TweetSmart” campaign: the search for a gunman in Canada after three officers were killed and a shooting at a high school near Portland, Ore. “I saw it personally as far back as Lakewood,” said State Patrol spokesman Bob Calkins, referring to social media traffic during the manhunt for a man wanted for killing four officers in Washington state in 2009. At the time, people speculated online about why police were combing a Seattle park while a search was on for the man, Calkins said. Calkins said police agencies can do their own preventative maintenance with social media by getting information out there when crime is happening. “We have to respond with a smart phone almost as fast as we respond with a gun,” said Calkins, who along with Korb commended the Seattle Police Department for its use of social media. Department spokesman Sean Whitcomb said they use social media to engage the public and believe that getting public safety information out quickly will help minimize rumors and speculation. “We recognize there’s a responsibility to use every tool at our disposal to keep the public safe,” Whitcomb said. Seattle photographer Michael Holden said he saw a direct path between asking people not to share crime photos and eventually forbidding them to take them. Holden said citizens have good reasons to take pictures of police and he does not worry about criminals using social media to find out what law enforcement is doing. “I think the criminals are probably having more pressing concerns than checking Twitter,” he said. Perry Merriel, a trucker from Ephrata, Washington, said he’s not
Aaron Alexis seems a study in contradictions: a former Navy reservist, a Defense Department contractor, a convert to Buddhism who was taking an online course in aeronautics. But he also had flashes of temper that led to run-ins with police over shootings in Fort Worth, Texas, and Seattle. A profile began to emerge Monday of the man authorities identified as the gunman in a mass shooting at the Navy Yard in Washington, D.C., that left 13 people dead, including the 34-year-old man. While some neighbors and acquaintances described him as “nice,” his father once told detectives in Seattle that his son had anger management problems related to post-traumatic stress brought on by the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. At the time of the shootings, he worked for The Experts, a subcontractor on an HP Enterprise Services contract to refresh equipment used on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet network. His life over the past decade has been checkered. Alexis lived in Seattle in 2004 and 2005, according to public documents. In 2004, Seattle police said Alexis was arrested for shooting out the tires of another man’s vehicle in what he later described to detectives as an anger-fueled “blackout.” According to an account on the department’s website, two construction workers had parked their Honda Accord in the driveway of their worksite, next to a home where Alexis was staying. The workers reported seeing a man, later identified by police as Alexis, walk out of the home next to their worksite, pull a gun from his waistband and fire three shots into the rear tires of their Honda before he walked slowly back to his home. When detectives interviewed workers at the construction site, they told police Alexis had stared at construction workers at the job site daily for several weeks prior to the shooting. The owner of the construction business told police he believed Alexis was angry over the parking situation around the site. Police eventually arrested Alexis, searched his home, found a gun and ammunition in his room, and booked him into the King County Jail for malicious mischief. According to the police account, Alexis told detectives he perceived he had been “mocked” by construction workers the morning of the incident. Alexis also claimed he had an anger-fueled “blackout,” and could not remember firing his gun at the Honda until an hour after the incident. Alexis also told police he was present during “the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001” and described “how those events had disturbed him.” Then, on May 5, 2007, he enlisted in the Navy reserves, serving through 2011, according to Navy spokeswoman Lt. Megan Shutka. Shutka said he received the National Defense Service Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal during his stint in the reserves. Both are medals issued to large numbers of service members who served abroad and in the United States since the 9/11 attacks. Alexis’ last assignment was as aviation electricians mate 3rd class at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base in Fort Worth, Shutka said. It was while he was still in the reserves that a neighbor in Fort Worth reported she had been nearly struck by a bullet shot from his downstairs apartment. In September 2010, Fort Worth police questioned Alexis about the neighbor’s report; he admitted
The Seattle police department, under court-sanctioned scrutiny over the use of excessive force, is set to equip at least a dozen officers with a wearable camera for a year-long trial, a senior police official said. The plan to equip rank-and-file officers with mobile surveillance gear is part of a growing trend in many U.S. cities, including Phoenix and crime-plagued Oakland, California, all of which are using such cameras as a means of protecting those on both ends of the gun. The change comes at a pivotal time for the police department and the Pacific Northwest city, which averted a federal civil rights lawsuit last year by agreeing to sweeping reforms including revising use-of-force guidelines. Talk of cameras on uniforms has been broached before, most vocally in 2010, the year police came under harsh criticism after a Seattle officer shot dead an inebriated Native American woodcarver who, in brief footage, appeared to pose a minimal threat. The American Civil Liberties Union asked the U.S. Justice Department that same year to investigate Seattle police, citing a half-dozen excessive force incidents, against minorities in particular. In one case, video showed a Latino man being kicked while lying prone on the sidewalk, the group said. A Justice Department report later showed a pattern of excessive force being displayed by police in Seattle, considered one of the most liberal cities in the nation. Supporters say the dashboard cameras currently in police cars produce an incomplete record of violent altercations with suspected wrongdoers, creating embarrassment for the city in some cases. That argument was embraced this week by the federal court-appointed monitor after it came to light that eight officers captured no footage from a fatal shooting in February where the victim turned out to be mentally ill. “You’ve got to be an idiot to do something wrong when you know you have your own camera filming you,” said Seattle Police Officers’ Guild President Rich O’Neill, head of the 1,220-member labor union, who originally opposed the plan. “I don’t think people have a grasp on the implications, though.” PRIVACY LAWS Washington state’s liberal public disclosure laws could make for a readily available record of any confrontational or particularly delicate police task, such as interviewing a child survivor of sexual assault, O’Neill said. “Do we really want to victimize the person twice?” The plan, part of the broader contract, is subject to a Guild vote later this month and would require amending state law or the parameters of use because of rules requiring dual party consent for audio recording. Seattle City councilman Bruce Harrell, one of the most prominent advocates for the cameras, said it’s a needed change: “The monitor identified our soft underbelly in the department and I am hopeful that the rank-and-file buy in to the concept of public accountability.” Bainbridge Island, in Puget Sound and west of Seattle, is already using such cameras. Roughly 20 patrol officers are instructed to activate a tiny shirt-mounted camera when approaching a “confrontational, use-of-force situation,” said Lieutenant Bob Day. “They’ve been a great tool for us,” Day said. “The prosecutor’s office and the courts – they love it when we have video to present as evidence in a case.” In light of the police reform plan, mounted cameras may not draw as much criticism over breach of privacy
A man accused of plotting to storm a Seattle military recruitment center with machine guns and grenades in retaliation for U.S. military conduct in Afghanistan pleaded guilty on Thursday to conspiracy charges, federal prosecutors said. Under the terms of his plea deal, Abu Khalid Abdul-Latif, 35, faces a prison term of 17 to 19 years when he is sentenced by a federal judge in March, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in statement. Abdul-Latif, also known as Joseph Anthony Davis, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to murder officers and employees of the United States and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction. His co-defendant, 33-year-old Walli Mujahidh, pleaded guilty in December 2011 to conspiracy and weapons charges. The pair, both U.S. citizens, were arrested in June 2011 and indicted the following month on charges of conspiring to attack the Military Entrance Processing Station, where enlistees are screened and processed, south of downtown Seattle. In his plea agreement, Abdul-Latif admitted that he agreed to carry out the planned attack and made plans for Mujahidh to travel to Seattle from Los Angeles to take part in the assault. The plot came to light after a person who had known Abdul-Latif for several years and had been asked to supply weapons for the planned attack went to police instead, becoming a paid undercover informant, according to court documents. The informant told authorities Mujahidh suggested storming the recruitment station “with machine guns and grenades and killing everyone there,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The next day, high-powered assault rifles that had been rendered inoperable by law enforcement agents were brought by the informant to the two suspects, who were arrested when they took possession of the guns, prosecutors said. Abdul-Latif had told the informant, according to an FBI affidavit, that the planned attack was in retaliation for what he said were crimes by U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan. He also mentioned the 2009 shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, where an Army psychiatrist is accused of killing 13 people, noting that “if one person could kill so many, three attackers could kill many more,” the informant told authorities, according to the original criminal complaint. FBI special agent in charge of the bureau’s Seattle office, Laura Laughlin, credited members of the city’s Muslim community for help in bringing Abdul-Latif and Mujahidh to justice. “Because Seattle’s Muslim community was alert to and rejected extremist plotting, a cowardly act of violence was prevented,” she said in a statement. Prosecutors have said the men originally planned to attack Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, the home installation of five U.S. soldiers charged at the time with murdering unarmed Afghan civilians, but then switched their intended target. Four of the Lewis-McChord soldiers were convicted or pleaded guilty to murder or manslaughter. The fifth case was dismissed. (Reuters)
In a reversal of an earlier decision, Metro Transit said Thursday it would not allow a bus ad alleging “Israeli war crimes,” saying a flood of comments has convinced officials that service could be disrupted. The ad, purchased by the Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, ties alleged Israeli war crimes to U.S. military aid. The ad had been set to run for a month on the sides of 12 buses starting next week. Metro also rejected proposals for two counter ads. “The escalation of this issue from one of 12 local bus placards to a widespread and often vitriolic international debate introduces new and significant security concerns that compel reassessment,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. Metro spokeswoman Linda Thielke earlier this week said lawyers had advised Metro that it couldn’t refuse to accept the “Israeli war crimes” ad under current agency policy. Metro policy restricts advertising that, among other things, can be reasonably foreseen to result in harm to, disruption of, or interference with the transportation system. “When we accepted the ad from Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, we didn’t have any information to cause us to reasonably foresee that there could be a disruption to transit service,” Thielke said. That changed once media locally, nationally and internationally ran the story and the comments started coming in, Thielke said. Metro customer service has received about 3,000 e-mails, and local elected officials thousands more. That made officials concerned that running the ads “could’ve caused anything from vandalism to protests that met the buses,” she said. Leaders of four Jewish organizations met Wednesday with King County officials, asking them to reconsider allowing the “Israeli war crimes” ad, saying local Jews had reason to fear the ad could bring harm to them. They mentioned how local Jewish institutions had increased security in recent years, and spoke of the 2006 shootings at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, in which one woman was killed. Metro officials on Thursday also put in place a moratorium on accepting any new noncommercial advertising on King County buses until a new permanent advertising policy is in place. Metro is supposed to have a draft of a permanent policy to Constantine in January. Ed Mast, spokesman for Seattle Mideast Awareness Campaign, said he was disappointed by Metro’s decision. He said his ads “weren’t disrupting Metro. There was no evidence that they were gong to disrupt.” Rather, he said, “groups who wanted the ads silenced mounted a campaign to disrupt Metro. The disruptions were going to be from people who wanted the message silenced.” He said he was examining all options and is talking to legal advisers. “It’s a disturbing precedent that King County approved the ad in the first place and then gave in to public pressure on the content of the ad,” he said. Amin Odeh, with Voices of Palestine, which supports the bus ad, said, “We know how powerful and aggressive the bullying by right-wing Jewish groups and their special-interest friends can be … . We’re very disappointed that this is going to affect not just our campaign. It also takes away free speech from us and other peace and justice groups.” Amy Wasser-Simpson, vice president for planning and community services at the Jewish Federation, said the organization was relieved and grateful to hear about Metro’s decision “not
Naveed Haq was sentenced to life in prison this morning for barging into the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle 3.5 years ago, killing one woman and wounding five others amid an anti-Israel tirade. Addressing the court for the first time, Haq blamed the shootings on mental illness and lack of treatment. “I understand you are angry,” said Haq, 34. “The tragedy wouldn’t have occurred if it wasn’t for bad medical care and mental illness.” Haq apologized for the attack “from the depth of my being.” “I am not a man filled with hate,” he said. “That Naveed Haq at the Federation that July day was not the real Naveed Haq.” The sentencing was a formality since Haq’s conviction last month for aggravated murder in Pamela Waechter’s death carried an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole. The King County jury also found Haq, guilty of malicious harassment, the state’s hate-crime statute, five counts of attempted first-degree murder and one count of unlawful imprisonment. During the trial, witnesses testified that Haq, who is of Pakistani heritage, railed against Jews and U.S.-Israeli policies as he opened fire in the Jewish Federation, an umbrella organization for the local Jewish community that raises money for social-welfare organizations, runs youth and adult educational programs, and engages in efforts in support of Israel. The trial was Haq’s second for the shooting. In June 2008, his first trial resulted in a mistrial when jurors were deadlocked on all but one of the 15 counts after nearly two weeks of deliberations. Prosecutors immediately announced they would retry Haq, but changed their strategy by reducing the charges to eight. During both of his trials, Haq’s defense team sought to have him sent to a state mental hospital rather than prison. Prosecutors agreed that Haq is mentally ill, but contended that he was sane when he entered the federation and opened fire. (Source: Seattle Times)
A King County judge postponed the second trial of accused Jewish Federation shooter Naveed Haq for several months, the Seattle Times reports. The delay was ordered by Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas so defense attorneys can review the estimated 500 to 600 recordings of telephone calls to and from Haq in the King County Jail that were turned over by prosecutors. Kallas had initially set Haq’s retrial for Sept. 22. Kallas scheduled a hearing for Aug. 6 to determine the date of Haq’s new trial, which will likely be in January. Haq, 32, is accused of shooting six women, killing one, after he burst into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on July 28, 2006. Haq has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. (Source: Seattle Times)
Accused Jewish Federation attacker Naveed Haq will be retried starting Sept. 22 for the 2006 shooting spree that killed one woman and wounded five others. King County Superior Court Judge Paris Kallas made the trial date decision on Thursday, after listening to extended testimony from Haq’s defense team and prosecutors. Defense attorneys were asking for the trial to be delayed until early next year. Prosecutors said they will be ready to begin selecting another jury in the case in early September, in time to try the case before the winter holidays. Kallas declared a mistrial in Haq’s first trial June 4 after the jury indicated it was deadlocked on 14 of the 15 criminal counts against Haq. Haq, 32, is accused of shooting six women, killing one, after he burst into the offices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on July 28, 2006. Haq pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. Click HERE to read all stories posted by YWN regarding this incident, beginning with the initial shooting in July 2006. (Source: Seattle Times)
The man accused of shooting up the Seattle Jewish Federation two years ago, killing one woman and wounding five, was not insane but had a deliberate plan to make a blood-soaked political point, prosecutors said Monday as his trial opened. Naveed Haq, 32, a Pakistani-American born in the United States, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of murder and attempted murder in the July 2006 attack. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole. Prosecutor Erin Ehlert said Haq, who is Muslim, stalked through the office, shooting one victim after another, in one case reaching over a cubicle wall before pulling the trigger.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle returned to its old building in downtown Seattle on Sunday months after a fatal shooting spree forced the group to move out last summer.
Naveed Haq, the man accused of a shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle that left one woman dead and five people injured, will not face the death penalty, it was announced today.
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