Category Archives: Local

Local, Weather

Soggy, steamy, east coast style weekend ahead

[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) The Seattle area had the fourth driest spring in history, and it appears that the region will make up some of that precipitation deficit this weekend. An unusual weather pattern will bring a Pineapple Express to the Pacific Northwest on Sunday. Sunday will feel more like a rainy March day in Orlando versus our usual June gloom.

Two rare events are coming together to turn Seattle from Fifty Shades of Grey to Sixty Shades of Sticky. Pineapple Express weather systems are more associated with wintertime storms carrying tropical moisture on a conveyor belt straight to the Pacific Northwest. These systems bring heavy rains, breezy conditions, and warmer temperatures.

Sunday’s weather models shows a river of moisture extending from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest

Usually, when we warm up in Seattle, it is from an eastern flow from the Cascades. The air compresses and gets warmer, squeezing out the moisture at the same time. Our hottest days typically have low humidity, so we get a “dry heat” in the lowlands to make it feel more tolerable. These same easterly flows dry out our air, preventing rain from falling.

In more recent years, we have gotten hot days from warm air coming from the southwestern United States, which is happening this weekend.

In reviewing the weather models, there is agreement on when and where but disagreement on how much rain. There is widespread agreement that southwest Washington and the Olympics will get significant rain on Sunday morning and the Cascades later in the day as the system makes landfall. One model predicts widespread record rainfall for Seattle, with the potential for one inch of rain – average rainfall for June is 1.57 inches! 

For the rest of Friday, our area will see a typical Juneuary day of clouds, rain showers, and sun breaks. High temperatures will struggle to reach 58 to 62 in the Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville area. The wettest period will be between 2 PM and 4 PM.

Friday night could bring some more light showers into the area, with lows from 52 to 54 degrees.

Saturday is looking pleasant, although partly to mostly cloudy. Highs will be 73 to 78, depending on what time the cloud cover starts to thicken up for the main event. It won’t feel sticky, but you may think to yourself, “this feels warmer than the 70s.”

Saturday night and early Sunday morning, the Pineapple Express arrives. Models are predicting rain will increase from 3 AM to 5 AM. Low temperatures will only drop to around 60 degrees, and dew points will creep into to 60s.

Sunday will see variable amounts of rain. Heavy rain showers will form with a chance for some grumbles of thunder. In the heaviest pockets, there could be minor street flooding and reduced visibility. Temperatures will hover around 70 degrees, while the dew point could reach 67. Your friends and family on the east coast won’t offer any sympathy if you call and complain about it being muggy, but this is a rare event for Puget Sound.

How much rain you will get on Sunday will depend on your location, and weather records will fall if a heavy pocket of rain lingers over the rain gauge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Some areas may see 1/3 to 1/2 an inch of rain, while localized areas could see an inch or more. 

Looking further out, Monday will get a little drier, but the humidity will linger. Tuesday appears to bring a round of spotty showers and thunderstorms to the area before moving back to a dry summertime pattern.

Local, Weather

Summer arrives right on time (technically)

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[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) Meteorological summer starts on June 1 and the weather gods are smiling upon Puget Sound with warm temperatures ahead.

The entire Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville area will see blue skies and temperatures from 79 to 83 degrees. Finn Hill, North Rose Hill, and right along Lake Washington might not pierce 80, while area hot spots like Totem Lake will be warmer.

Tonight will be sleeping weather with temperatures dropping to 55 to 57 degrees under clear skies.

Tomorrow will be even warmer with the entire area getting over 80. Temperatures will be 82 to 86 with abundant sunshine.

Thursday the marine layer will start to push back in, and the region will be mostly cloudy. Highs will be 71 to 74.

Friday is a bit far out, but appears to be pleasant, and 69 to 73 before rain pushes in for Saturday.

BIPOC, Local

Dozens gather in Auburn to remember Jesse Sarey

Gallery

[AUBURN] – (MTN) Family, friends, activists, politicians, and community leaders gathered in the parking lot where Jesse Sarey was shot by Auburn police officer Jeff Nelson two years ago to hold a candlelight vigil. Sarey was gunned down by officer Nelson on May 31, 2019, in an interaction that ended with Sarey dead of two gunshot wounds. Nelson was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree assault in the shooting and is the first officer to be charged under Washington’s I-940.

Elaine Simons, Sarey’s foster mother, has become an outspoken champion of his cause and the public face for the Sarey family. Other families who have experienced police violence were on hand to stand in support and tell their stories of loved ones lost.

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”51″ gal_title=”Jesse Sarey Vigil 2021″]

Friends and family did a balloon release after a four-second pause, to remember the four seconds it took between Nelson’s first shot and his third.

On May 31, 2019, officer Nelson responded to a call about Sarey, who was homeless and struggled with mental illness. When Nelson arrived Sarey was calm, sitting on a curb and chewing on ice cubes. Nelson attempted to take Sarey into custody and a short struggle ensued. Nelson fired one shot which struck Sarey in the chest and was fatal. When he went to fire his second shot his service weapon jammed, forcing Nelson to clear the round and fire a third shot in the head.

Nelson had been with the Auburn Police Department for 11 years, serving as a K9 officer. During his tenure, he was involved in 3 fatal officer shootings, including Sarey. In 2017, Isaiah Obet was shot and killed by Nelson with the same chest and head combination. The city of 85,000 paid a $1.25 million settlement to Obet’s family 4 days after Nelson was arraigned on criminal charges in the Sarey case.

Nelson’s next hearing is on June 3 and his trial is scheduled to start in October 2021.

BIPOC, Editorial, Local, National

One year later, what has changed after Black Lives Matter protests swept Seattle

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[SEATTLE] – (MTN) A year has passed since George Floyd protests ended in clouds of teargas, police cruisers set on fire, and downtown stores looted. Caught in the crossfire were thousands of peaceful protesters who were out to show solidarity with the family of George Floyd. Protests erupted across the United States after 8 minutes and 46 seconds of a video showed George Floyd under the knee of Minneapolis Police officer Derek Chauvin. Floyd would die, Chauvin was convicted for his murder, and the nation was forced into a racial reckoning.

In the year that has followed, the city of Seattle watched as Carmen Best resigned as Chief of Police and 200 officers left the force due to efforts to defund and improve oversight. Mayor Jenny Durkan did not seek reelection among growing calls for her resignation. Over 285 protesters were arrested during months of unrest, and many have ultimately never been charged by prosecutors. King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the construction of a new youth jail would stop.

recap of events in Seattle on may 30, 2020 from malcontent news

Aubreanna Inda was shot at near point-blank range by a stun grenade on June 7 had her heart stop three times at Harborview Medical Center. Diaz Love and Summer Taylor were struck by an SUV driven by Dawit Kelete on July 4, killing Taylor and gravely injuring Love. Kelete is awaiting trial on multiple charges.

The protesters had five demands in the summer of 2020, and many questions remain unanswered a year later.

Defund SPD how much? Fifty percent, at least.

The first demand of protesters was to defund the Seattle Police Department by at least 50%. While the term “defund” creates an image of half the police force being removed, advocates for defunding don’t have that expectation.

In Seattle, only 1.3% of 911 calls are for violent or major crimes. The remaining 98.7% are for property crimes, auto accidents, or petty situations such as neighbors arguing over parking spots. Despite this disparity, equally armed officers go to these calls, and 40% of sworn officers in Seattle received at least one complaint to the OPA in 2020, resulting in 145 open cases.

The Seattle Police Department was defunded just under 18% in November 2020 after political theater. The city council approved an earlier budget that called for defunding in August 2020 that Mayor Durkan vetoed – a veto overridden by the council.

Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best resigned, stating that she didn’t want to fire officers as part of budget cuts. Adrian Diaz was named Acting Chief and remains in charge today. 

Before June 2020, the Seattle Police Department was already losing officers. Since January 2020, 260 cops have resigned or gone on extended leave. The force has a budget to support up to 1,325 officers, and currently, 1,080 patrols the streets. Compared to other similar-sized west coast cities, even at 1,080 officers, staffing is at a comparable level.

As protests evolved through the fall of 2020, more demanded the abolishment of SPD. Abolishment falls into two camps – the ending of the Seattle Police Department as it is known today and a total replacement with a much smaller force focusing on community support. Others view abolishment as the ending of the police, courts, and prisons. For the most radical, when asked what would happen to those accused of violent crimes such as rape or murder, some say they support summary execution.

Where should that money go? To Black communities.

The budget cuts of approximately $80 million were partially created by moving numbers on balance sheets with certain functions removed from the department but still fully funded.

Budget Chair Teresa Mosqueda called in a win stating, “This council has stepped up in the midst of a historic crisis.” Other members of the City Council were critical for various reasons.

Of the $80 million in cuts, $12 million went to a “people’s fund” where the citizens of Seattle would have a voice on how to spend the money. The city had touted a $100 million investment program to support BIPOC peoples and communities before last year’s protests, but the city didn’t spend a single penny. That money sat trapped in review processes and red tape, with applicants advised to submit proposals subject to review and studies. The new “people’s fund” is the 2021 budget totals $35 million.

Seattle Fire Department now has two units called Health One. Health One responds to mental health calls and provides an alternative to police response. Health One mirrors programs like STAR in Denver, Colorado, which started earlier in 2020. Six months after implementing STAR in Denver, the responding units have never had to request police intervention. 

What should the city do? Free all the protesters.

Over 285 people were arrested during protest actions in the summer of 2020 for a range of crimes from pedestrian obstruction to arson and first-degree assault. According to the City Attorney’s Office, most of those arrested have not been criminally charged and likely never will be.

City Attorney’s and the Seattle Police Department got into frequent, and at times public, war of words over the handling of arrests. Seattle Police complained that protesters were being caught and released. In contrast, city prosecutors complained that SPD was not doing the necessary work to provide evidence to support arrests. 

Of the most serious arrests and criminal charges, many were not from Seattle. Some had only recently moved into the area.

Jacob D. Little of Everett was arrested for stealing firearms from the Seattle Police Department on May 30, including silencers and an M4 assault rifle. The weapons have not been recovered. Little was later charged with an unrelated shooting of a 15-year old in Renton.

Margaret Aislinn Channon was a woman from Texas who had been reported missing and had recently started living in Tacoma. She was arrested for her role in setting Seattle Police cruisers on fire along 6th Avenue on May 30.

Thomas Kelly Jackson of Edmonds, Washington, was arrested for arson. In that case, police used his cell phone records and surveillance video to place him at the scene.

Marcel Levon Long was identified as the person who shot and killed Lorenzo Anderson on June 20, 2020, on the edge of CHOP, the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. The shooting was determined to be gang-related and not involving protesters. Anderson’s family is suing the city in federal court for negligence and violating Anderson’s rights in his death. That lawsuit blew the lid off of a simmering scandal in City Hall, revealing months of texts have disappeared from Mayor Jenny Durkan, former Police Chief Carmen Best, and current Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. 

However, for every Little, Channon, Jackson, and Long, dozens were arrested for obstruction, trespass, and traffic violations. In other cases, suspects for the most severe crimes have never been identified.

In a gun battle, Antonio Mays Jr., 16, died in the early morning hours of June 29 in CHOP. Mays Jr. and an unnamed 14-year-old drove through street barricades and rammed the concrete blocks outside the East Precinct building in a stolen Jeep. A suspect has not been named in that case.

What do want for number four? No new youth jail.

King County had argued for a new youth jail facility for years. The current building in the Central District is crumbling with sanitary, heating, and water issues. In 2012 a levy measure was passed and was met with outrage by activists who sued the city in 2016, saying the ballot language was misleading.

In the nine years that have passed, public sentiment on youth incarceration and heightened awareness of the school-to-prison pipeline has shifted public opinion on the imprisonment of children. For a growing list of industrialized nations, the practice is no longer acceptable.

On July 24, 2020, King County Executive Dow Constantine vowed to end the incarceration of children at the Children and Family Justice Center by 2025. For protesters, the view is the demand has not been met, and they seek an immediate shutdown. The center is currently housing less than 40 people.

Don’t forget number five. Jenny Durkan to resign.

A year later, Mayor Jenny Durkan’s June 12 comment on CNN about “the summer of love” appears cavalier and cynical. 

By September of 2020, Ted Wheeler of Portland, Oregon, and Durkan of Seattle was in an unofficial competition of the least liked mayors in the United States. For Mayor Durkan, her allies were dwindling on all sides. Conservatives felt she was too soft on protesters, should have never allowed the creation of CHOP, and directly blamed her for the evacuation of the East Precinct. The business community felt abandoned by the city between protests, COVID restrictions, and a culture war with their customers over the support of the police. Liberals viewed her as being heavy-handed, ordering the teargassing and beatings of mostly peaceful protesters. They were frustrated with broken promises on concessions and offers of cooperation. Moderates who supporter her based on her prior federal experience found her response to 2020 incompetent.

By the late fall, a growing chorus of city groups and members of the city government were calling for Durkan’s resignation. On December 7, 2020, she announced she would not seek reelection. New calls for her resignation erupted in May of 2021 over her missing texts, but it appears she will ride out the final months as mayor of Seattle.

What is next

Although there have been changes, and the protesters achieved other victories beyond the five demands chanted in the streets in 2020, the foundations of Seattle’s historical past remain.

The City Council has almost no visibility into the details of the police budget, while the Seattle Police Officers Guild, the police union, enjoys one of the most one-sided contracts in the nation. 

As recently as May 29, 2021, the uneven policing in the city was on display. A small group of protesters was met with an aggressive response downtown during the day, while thousands challenged police authority on Alki Beach hours later. The Seattle Police Blotter was absent of any story about the events at Alki, which led to numerous arrests.

The foundational issues of systemic racism within Seattle and King County – zoning laws, infrastructure, schools, food and banking deserts – are entirely unchanged. In the aftermath of protests, the Seattle Office of Police Accountability has largely been impotent and incapable of enforcing police oversight by design.

At a broader level, the Washington state legislature passed several police accountability measures to provide more teeth to Washington I-940. Three Tacoma police officers were recently charged in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis, in a case eerily similar to George Floyd’s. Juneteenth will become a state holiday in 2022, and the Confederate monument in Lake View Cemetery was smashed on July 4, 2020.

In the end, what was accomplished a year later is entirely in the eye of the beholder.

You can watch our documentary Can You Hear Us? on our YouTube channel. Our documentary traces the events in Seattle from May 29 to July 4, 2020 that shaped the Black Lives Matter movement in the city.

BIPOC, Breaking News, Local

Seattle Police use aggressive tactics, arrest 3 during George Floyd memorial protests

Video

[SEATTLE] – (MTN) Seattle Police are reporting 3 arrests, and a fourth potentially unrelated arrest, in downtown Seattle today after two small groups marched on the one-year anniversary of widespread George Floyd protests. According to Seattle Police, two were arrested for pedestrian obstruction and resisting arrest, and one was arrested for pedestrian obstruction. Pedestrian obstruction is under Seattle Municipal Code and the City Attorney Office has said repeatedly they aren’t prosecuting low-level non-violent cases.

Seattle police arrest 3 during protests on may 29, 2021

Around 3:15 PM a group of approximately 40 protesters marched to City Hall from Occidental Park without incident. Just north of City Hall, another group that had assembled at Westlake and was marching south joined up. Seattle Police appeared to show bias in enforcement, making a female protester move out of the line while letting local agent provocateur and Turning Point USA evangelist Katie Daviscourt stay in the bike line. Daviscourt refused to answer questions about how she got a concussion on January 6, 2021, while in Washington D.C. with Turning Point USA, and why she posted about it on her Twitter account.

Seattle Police became increasingly aggressive, simultaneously telling people to stay out of the street and off the sidewalks, creating an untenable situation. Two were arrested at the intersection of 5th and James. One police officer appeared to have a small scrape on their elbow during the second arrest. A third arrest happened outside of the King County Courthouse. In that incident, a man on a bicycle had been riding repeatedly in the bike line of the police officers. Officers punched the man and several wrestled him to the ground.

The group marched back to Occidental Park together. There was another incident where an individual was pepper-sprayed and mutual threats were uttered, but both parties separated.

According to the Seattle Police, there was an additional arrest, “later,” in downtown of an individual possessing a fixed blade knife, which is illegal in Seattle. The post did not say if that individual was part of the protests or their alignment.

BIPOC, Breaking News, Local

BREAKING: Bail set for Tacoma police officers charged in murder of Manuel “Manny” Ellis

[TACOMA] – (MTN) Bail was set for the 3 officers who were arrested yesterday and criminally charged due to their involvement in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis on March 3, 2020. All three defendants pled not guilty and had bail set at $100,000 each. Christopher Burbank and Matthew Collins are charged with second-degree murder and Timothy Rankine is charged with first-degree manslaughter.

Prosecutors argued for bail of $1,000,000 for all three defendants while the lawyers representing all defendants asked for personal recognizance. Additional conditions of the three officers include surrendering their passport, no contact with their co-defendants, the Ellis family, or witnesses, surrender all weapons, and travel restrictions.

It was revealed in court that Collins has since moved to Oregon, despite still drawing his salary with the Tacoma Police Department of $116,109 annually. Collins’ attorney stated he would still need to be able to travel to his job in Oregon, but it wasn’t disclosed what kind of work he is doing, or if it was in law enforcement. Collins was given permission to travel within the county of residence in Oregon and the adjoining counties, and to and from the court or to see his attorney in Washington.

Rankine’s attorney admonished the court’s bail request for $1,000,000 and called the state’s request “false information” when saying this was comparative to other charges. The attorney also argued because he was a veteran with two Purple Hearts, was “superhuman,” and only arrived as a backup officer, he should not have been charged. Rankie lives in Bothell, Washington, according to his attorney.

All three defendants were arrested yesterday after Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced the charges against the trio in the death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis. The state AG stated that Collins and Burbank could face 10 to 18 years in prison while Rankine could face 6.5 to 8.5 years.

On March 3, 2020, Ellis was returning from a trip to 7-Eleven when he started speaking to officers in a city of Tacoma police cruiser. According to eyewitnesses, one of the officers violently threw open their car door, striking Ellis, who was restrained with a knee to the neck. He was tasered, hobbled, and had a spit hood placed on his head and stopped breathing shortly thereafter. Medics did CPR for 40 minutes before Ellis was declared dead. His last recorded words from a Ring security camera across the street were, “I can’t breathe, sir.”

In events eerily similar to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the Pierce County Medical Examiner labeled Ellis’ death a homicide caused by hypoxia and physical restraint. Contributing factors included an enlarged heart and methamphetamine intoxication. Police investigators labeled this a case of “excited delirium,” which is not an accepted medical diagnosis by the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and is not part of the DSM-V.

The case received little attention for 3 months, and under Washington I-940, the investigation was moved to the Pierce County Sheriff Department. A week before the final report was to be released, it was revealed a Pierce County Sheriff deputy participated in the restraint of Ellis, in a potential violation of I-940. After the revelation, several witnesses came forward with cellphone video of the incident that disputed Tacoma Police and Pierce County Sheriff’s depiction of the events that led to Ellis’ death.

The family of Ellis fought for a meeting with Governor Jay Inslee to have the state take over the criminal investigation. On December 31, 2020, a nearly 2,000-page report was released by the Washington State Patrol, that raised serious questions about the conduct of officers, the veracity of their reports on the incident, and their conduct toward Ellis.

A decision on the case was supposed to come by March 2021, but it was further revealed that a Washington State Patrol officer was also present during the incident with Ellis, creating a new conflict of interest. The State Police report received 2 months of further review, and the charges were announced on May 27, 2021, almost a year from the day Geroge Floyd in Minneapolis was murdered by Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of second-degree murder in that case.

All 3 defendants appeared before the court wearing Pierce County Jail jumpsuits and appeared unemotional during the hearings. It is important to note that video quality was poor, and there were significant audio issues during Burbank’s hearing and the start of Collin’s hearing. The defendants have been ordered to return to court on June 24.

To date, 4 officers in Washington state have been criminally charged under I-940. The first was former police officer Jeff Nelson of Auburn, Washington. Nelson was arraigned in August 2020 for the slaying of Jesse Sarey, who was having a mental health crisis. In that case, Nelson was permitted to appear before the court on a summons and King County prosecutors asked for no bail. The judge set bail at $500,000 after an impassioned plea by Sarey’s foster mother, Elaine Simons. Nelson is still awaiting trial in that case and continues to draw his salary with the Auburn Police Department.

BIPOC, Local

Three Tacoma police officers face criminal charges after the in-custody death of Manuel “Manny” Ellis

[OLYMPIA] – (MTN) On March 3, 2020, Manny Ellis’ last words of, “I can’t breathe, sir,” were caught on a Ring security camera as Tacoma Police and a Pierce County Sheriff tasered, hobbled, and put a spit mask over his head. After 14 months of investigation, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced through a press release that three Tacoma police officers will face felony charges.

Four Tacoma police officers were placed on leave two months after Ellis’ death and days after social justice protests erupted across the United States from the police custody murder of George Floyd. Christopher Burbank, Matthew Collins, Masyih Ford, and Timothy Rankine were put on paid leave and a fifth officer, later identified, was added. Today, Burbank and Collins were charged with second-degree murder, and Rankine was charged with first-degree manslaughter.

According to an eyewitness, Sara McDowell, Ellis approached a Tacoma Police Department vehicle and started talking to officers inside. McDowell reported that an officer suddenly opened their car door, slamming it into Ellis and tackling him to the ground. Ellis then struggled against five identified officers and an additional off-duty officer in a scene reminiscent of the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Ellis became unresponsive and died minutes later. Medical personnel performed CPR for 40 minutes before he was pronounced dead.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner determined Ellis’ death was a homicide, due to “hypoxia and physical restraint” by the officers. It also indicated that contributing factors were heart disease and methamphetamine intoxication. Ellis’ family said he had struggled with mental illness for years and was working to get back on his feet at the time of his death. At the sober house he was living at, landlords and social workers had said he had been improving for months, accepting treatment for the disease, schizophrenia.

The investigation into this death has been swirled in controversy as it moved to multiple agencies. Approximately a week before Pierce County was ready to release their findings, it was revealed an off-duty Pierce County Sheriff was present during Ellis’ arrest and assisted in hobbling him. Detective Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff Department, now the embattled Sheriff of Pierce County and under criminal investigation himself, at the time expressed he did not feel this violated Washington I-940. Washington law requires independent investigations into police misconduct.

Additionally, during the investigation, Troyer stated none of the officers placed a knee on Ellis’ neck or head. Tacoma Police officers didn’t have body or dash cam during the time of the incident, but eyewitness videos dispute the claims by the sheriff.

Governor Jay Inslee moved in, and the Washington State Patrol took over the investigation. An exhaustive 2,000-page report was released on December 31, 2020, and the state AG has been reviewing the findings to consider charges. Attorney General Ferguson had initially said that a decision would be announced in March, but concerns about a potential conflict of interest within the Washington State Patrol delayed the findings.

The Tacoma Police Union issued a statement vehemently defending its officers. ” We are disappointed that facts were ignored in favor of what appears to be a politically motivated witch hunt. We look forward to the trial. An unbiased jury will find that the officers broke no laws and, in fact, acted in accordance with the law, their training, and Tacoma Police Department policies. An unbiased jury will not allow these fine public servants to be sacrificed at the altar of public sentiment.”

BIPOC, Local, National

Documentary Can You Hear Us explores the events that happened during June 2020 in Seattle

[KIRKLAND] – (MTN) A new documentary, Can You Hear Us, which explores the story behind the Black Lives Matter protests from May 30 to July 4 in Seattle, will debut on Wednesday at 8 PM at Malcontent News TV. Producers combed through more than 200 hours of video, hundreds of still images, and dozens of news reports.

“The story of CHOP is forever ingrained in Seattle history,” explained David Obelcz, the producer. “We have been waiting to release our production in the hopes a BIPOC production would be released, but we have reached the one-year anniversary of the nation learning George Floyd’s name, and we believe this is the right time for release.”

“A striking thing to me is how many people are holding up cellphones and cameras in many of the scenes. The Black Lives Matter movement is the most documented social justice effort in United States history. There are likely hundreds, if not thousands of people who have history trapped on their phones, they’ve forgotten about.”

The documentary uses local and national news coverage video to enhance the story, and fill in gaps where access was limited to the mainstream media. It also includes a number of controversial figures, but Obelcz felt it was important to tell their stories also.

“Raz Simone was accused of sexual assault in January 2021, but to tell the story of CHOP and not include him isn’t committing to telling a complete story,” said Obelcz. “Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and then President Donald Trump got into a war of words, and the politicization of what was happening is another part of the story.”

For Obelcz, the reasons for producing Can You Hear Us runs deeper than his passion for storytelling. “My daughter-in-law is Black, my grandchildren will be Black,” said Obelcz. “In 20 or 30 years, that could be my grandchild under a knee begging for their life.”

Can You Hear Us is not rated, but the producers did provide a content warning that the documentary shows scenes of protest, violence, and clips of George Floyd under the knee of convicted murderer and former Minneapolis police officer, Derek Chauvin. There is one clip the producers decided not to include. “We made the decision not to include the traffic camera video of Diaz Love and Summer Taylor being struck by a car in the early hours of July 4,” Obelcz said, with a pause. “It wasn’t an easy decision, but ultimately we wanted to respect Diaz Love and the estate of Summer Taylor, and chose a different path to tell their stories.”

Can You Hear us will air tonight at 8 PM, and will be generally available for free on May 27. “I’ve always been committed to not profiting off of Black misery,” said Obelcz, “we have no interest in selling our production and have relied on community donations to financially support us.”

BIPOC, Local

Questions continue to grow as City Hall goes quiet over missing text messages

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[SEATTLE]- (MTN) Almost 3 weeks have passed since Wayne Barnett, Executive Director of the Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission, notified Mayor Jenny Durkan her legal counsel is believed to have violated the Public Records Act by excluding text messages in numerous public record requests. In March, Stacy Irwin filed a whistleblower complaint that the mayor’s legal counsel, Michelle Chen, had directed Irwin and her co-worker Kim Ferreiro to “narrowly interpret” public information requests to exclude text messages. The May 6 Investigative Report revealed that all text messages from Mayor Durkan from August 28, 2019, to June 25, 2020, were deleted from her phone and not retained in any cloud-based account associated with her government-issued device. 

Less than a week later, it was revealed by the city attorney’s office that text messages are missing from at least 8 more city officials, including former Police Chief Carmen Best and Fire Department Chief Harold Scoggins. Among the remaining 6 unnamed officials, 5 are alleged to be within the Seattle Police Department.

“The idea that any agency’s compliance with the law would depend on an individual employee’s memory is grossly irresponsible,” said Toby Nixon, recently retired President of the Washington Coalition for Open Government (WCOG) and a Kirkland City Council member.

For the last 3 weeks, this appears to be part of the Mayor Office’s defense for the missing texts. It has since been revealed Mayor Durkan’s device was set to retain her text messages for only 30 days, the shortest possible setting. In an interview with local station KCPQ, Durkan denies changing her government-issued device settings herself and does not know who set up her device that way.

What appears to be a nearly year-long effort to avoid revealing the missing texts, the federal lawsuit against the city for the death of Lorenzo Anderson on the edge of CHOP in 2020, exposed the lapses. 

“While these investigations must continue, it’s apparent public trust has completely eroded with City Hall,” said 2021 Seattle mayoral candidate Bruce Harrell.

“This must stop, and even worse, these lapses in transparency disproportionately impede justice sought by those impacted by the events of last summer. It shouldn’t take the death of young Black men to reveal the issues affecting our city.”

Directed not to inform requestors the mayor’s text messages had not been retained

For 48 public record requests going back to 2019, Irwin and Ferreiro were directed by Chen not to inform the requestors that text messages provided by Mayor Durkan were incomplete or recreated from other sources. In the investigation done by Ramsey Ramerman, who was retained by the city as an independent investigator, Chen’s responses were called out as “refuted by her own statements.” Chen claimed that Irwin and Ferreiro exercised their “independent discretion” when responding to requests for the mayor’s text messages. Still, Chen’s emails refuted this claim, and the investigators found she was “not credible.”

“…Chen notes in her May 4 letter that in March 2021, she did agree with Ferreiro’s suggestion about providing an explanation when producing the recreated texts. But documentation provided with the Complaint shows that prior to March 2021, Chen rejected similar advice…”

Investigative report – may 6, 2021

In at least one public information request, the party was able to identify that the texts provided were not from the mayor but recreations and filed an appeal. Irwin and Ferreiro told Chen they should explicitly inform the requestors that the Mayor’s Office was providing recreated text messages from other sources. 

The report ultimately determined that Chen’s actions violated “best practices,” but she did not violate Washington state laws by her actions.

Narrowing requests left out Mayor Durkan’s texts and resulted in closed cases

The most egregious allegations involve 48 public records requests. When the Mayor’s Office determined that Durkan’s texts were unrecoverable, Chen directed Irwin and Ferreiro to narrow the scope of the public record requests to leave out the texts. Of the 48 cases, 28 are either still open or received recreations. Twenty cases had the text messages left out, and 3 of those cases were closed. 

“…there is no principled basis for excluding the Mayor’s text messages from the scope of requests for all communications with the Mayor’s Office, or from requests for the Mayor’s “correspondence.”

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT – MAY 6, 2021

The report revealed that interpreting requests this way was a significant change from how the Mayor’s Office handled earlier cases. Before fall 2020, the office would include texts for similar requests. Further, after the period of missing texts had passed in July of 2020, the Mayor’s Office returned to providing the text as part of public information requests. 

Investigator Ramerman wrote that Chen’s actions violated the Public Records Act and were improper government action. According to the report, Chen claimed she didn’t have enough time to respond to the request. The report disputes that, stating she was notified on April 6, she had deep involvement in tracking the cases with missing texts and commented in a hidden column within an Excel spreadsheet to hold a narrow scope on specific requests.

The report provided 4 examples taken from the tracking Excel spreadsheet with Chen’s direction in the hidden column. Request C059261, “Any and all documents, emails, texts, voice messages, etc., surrounding the decision to withdraw from the SPD East Precinct Building between May 25th, 2020 and the present.” Chen noted in the hidden column, “No – this does not specifically ask for JADM texts. Does not apply to her.”

Another request, C059884, requesting all records of communications, including texts, “that reference an FBI-reported threat to the east precinct,” was noted, “No [sic] – this request doesn’t even mention MO.”

The survivors of Lorenzo Anderson, who died in the early morning hours of June 20, 2020, filed a federal lawsuit in April against the city. Anderson died on the edge of CHOP after being shot by Marcel Long, 18. Donnitta Sinclair, Anderson’s mother, is suing the city for negligence and violating Anderson’s 14th Amendment rights.

Allegedly, this is one of the cases where requests for texts are impacted by the failure to retain the records. 

Is there a broader cover-up at City Hall

It has been a year since the first protests related to George Floyd started in Seattle and over 650 communities across the United States. A year later, Derek Chauvin was convicted of George Floyd’s murder. Numerous agencies have disciplined or fired police officers and leaders for their actions in the days and weeks after. Seattle and Portland join Louisville as cities dealing with scandals on multiple levels or lack accountability and transparency for decisions made by leaders.

The Mayor’s Office and Durkan have been on the defensive. The revelation on May 13 that the texts of Best and Scoggins are also missing, along with up to 5 higher ranking SPD officers, indicates there are much more profound questions. Critical events in June 2020 were Scoggins, Best, and Durkan would have likely been in near-constant communication:

  • May 29 protests in downtown Seattle
  • May 30 riots, the public emergency declaration, curfew, and use of force decisions
  • May 31 use of force decisions
  • June 1 “Pink Umbrella Riot,” widespread use of force, and alleged notification from the FBI that the East Precinct was a target
  • June 6 “White Coats for Black Lives Riot,” the IED candle, and use of force decision
  • June 7 use of force decisions just hours after a press conference that the city was going to reduce its response significantly
  • June 7 decision by Mayor Durkan to remove the barricades at Pine and 11th
  • June 8 hardening of the East Precinct and fire suppression evaluation by Seattle Fire Department
  • June 8 evacuation of the East Precinct
  • Communications between Chief Scoggins and musician Raz Simone to provide security in the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone
  • Communications between senior Seattle Police leaders to divert unhomed individuals with an extensive criminal history to CHOP
  • June 20 communications between Seattle Police and Seattle Fire in the seconds, minutes, and hours after the murder of Lorenzo Anderson
  • June 24 decision to shut CHOP down
  • Planning for the June 26 community meeting between Black Lives Matter activists and community leaders, that was closed to the press and was unproductive
  • Preparing for the attempt to remove CHOP barricades on June 26

The Seattle Office of Police Accountability has spent almost a year investigating who ordered the evacuation of the East Precinct. Director Andrew Myerberg told Converge Media that a report was 2 months away, but nearly 4 months has passed. In an interview published by KUOW today, former Police Chief Best continues to insist she was against the evacuation of the East Precinct, was not informed of the decision, and that it was a “command decision.” 

In contrast, Minneapolis has completed reviewing who ordered the 3rd Precinct evacuation and has convicted the individuals involved in the fire set on May 28, 2020.

In another investigative report, KUOW determined in the minutes following the Lorenzo Anderson shooting, chaos paralyzed the Seattle Fire Department’s response. First responders did not go to the correct previously arranged meeting point on the edge of CHOP, and Seattle Police were also in the wrong location.

The city claims Seattle Fire Chief Scoggins texts cannot be accessed because the password to the device is unknown. “A properly-managed agency messaging infrastructure would have automatically copied and archived the messages without any action required by the employee,” Nixon told us. Before becoming President of WCOG, Nixon served as the ranking member of the State Governments Operations and Accountability committee in the Washington State House of Representatives 2003-2006. In 2005 he worked on the bill that reorganized the public records portion of the Public Disclosure Act (Initiative 276) into a separate chapter of law – the Public Records Act, RCW 42.56.

“In particular, mobile devices are so easily damaged, lost, or stolen that no agency can depend on the devices themselves to be the primary storage mechanism for compliance with records retention laws,” Nixon continued, “Off-device backup is essential.”

To the issue of a lost password preventing access to the text, Nixon said, “You would not want devices that are easily stolen to also be easily cracked. For an agency-owned device, it would be ideal for an administrator to be able to have access even if the user loses their password.”

What should the city of Seattle have done

According to Nixon, a lot more than what the city of Seattle did. We asked if it would be typical for a government entity to delete texts more than 30 days old, and the short answer was, “no.” 

“Most modern devices have ample memory to hold text messages for a very long period of time.” Nixon said. “[Device] manufacturers and wireless carriers know that the vast majority of people do not want such behavior; the default is to keep messages as long as possible, and it takes intentional action to change the configuration of the device from automatic retention to automatic deletion. Whether it was the mayor, or her staff, or the city IT department, who changed this setting, it was grossly irresponsible to do so when the law so clearly states that automatic deletion is illegal.”

The city claims they have spent “hundreds of thousands of dollars” in an attempt to recover and rebuild the communications between Durkan, Scoggins, and Best, along with at least 6 other city officials.

In a Spokesman Review story on May 22, Megan Erb, a spokesperson for the IT department, said, “all three phones used by Durkan were “Set up in accordance with our standards” and then “handed over to her staff.” Since making that statement a week ago, Erb has avoided all further inquiries into the topic.

When it comes to recovery, there are questions on how hard or complex it would be. Nixon explained, “All wireless carriers retain text messages on their servers for some period of time – some for quite a long time. Mostly this is to allow a user to restored them to a replacement device if their device is damaged, lost, or stolen.”

Nixon continued, “Some of these will delete the mirror copy from the server if the text is deleted from the device. It’s possible that some carriers keep a copy of messages on the server after they are deleted from the device, but I do not have personal knowledge of that.”

“Because records retention laws are so strict, many public agencies do not depend on individual users or wireless carriers to preserve messages. There are applications available that will periodically (e.g., daily) connect to an agency’s wireless carrier and download all text messages for agency-owned or managed devices and store them in secure backup to ensure retention schedules are met.”

In the May 6 letter to Mayor Durkan, Executive Director Barrett indicated the Mayor’s Office has 60 days to respond with what action will be taken against Chen due to her conduct.

As for the city itself, City Council President and 2021 mayoral Candidate Lorena Gonzalez announced that she, along with City Attorney Pete Holmes, is working on creating an independent organization to handle public document requests to the Mayor Office.

“Public disclosure requests for information from the Mayor’s office should no longer be controlled by those that directly report to the Mayor’s office,” Gonzalez wrote in a public statement.