The Buck Stops with Nobody

[Hannah Bell]

the recent killing of John T. Williams at the hands of a Seattle Police Department (SPD) officer, which first triggered serious questions and then serious outrage, is now triggering a movement.

Hundreds of people attended a candlelight vigil for the Native American man on September 2, the crowd spilling out onto Second Avenue late into the night. Since then, the mood has shifted from somber to angry—and next week, on September 16, several groups are planning a protest. The details are still forthcoming, but the central message is clear: They want accountability from the police department and city hall—which has so far been lacking.

In its entirety, SPD says that the incident with Williams—from the time Officer Ian Birk pulled over until he fired his gun—happened in under a minute. At 4:15 p.m. on August 30, Birk, a 27-year-old officer who has worked for the SPD for two years, saw Williams crossing Howell Street with a piece of wood and a knife. Footage from an in-car patrol camera shows both men cross in front of the car and move out of view. "The only thing we know for sure is the individual had a knife," said Chief John Diaz at a press conference on August 31. "We know from audio recordings that the officer issued at least three commands for the suspect to drop his knife." But Williams allegedly refused Birk's orders. From approximately 9 to 10 feet away, Birk fired four rounds.

Williams fell to the ground, Birk called for backup, and officers arrived within a minute and a half. Williams was declared dead at the scene. Later, family and friends confirmed that the 50-year-old man was a wood carver from the Ditidaht and Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations tribes in British Columbia and that he was partially deaf. The knife he was carrying had a three-inch blade, which is legal according to the Seattle Municipal Code. Preliminary reports that Williams lunged at Birk have since been retracted....

McGinn defends his pick for police chief. "When I laid out my criteria for selection of a police chief, the issues that I hoped would be raised included issues of race, social justice, and disparate treatment. It's my belief that... the police department has to have a commitment to that. I believe Chief Diaz has that commitment."

...The protest being planned by the Chief Seattle Club, a union of Native American city employees, the NAACP, Mothers for Police Accountability, and several local tribal leaders. In the week after the shooting, the Seattle Human Rights Commission and the Native American city employees also expressed grave concern in separate letters to Diaz.

http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-buck-stops-with-nobody/Content?oid=4832659