[SEATTLE] – (MTN) The Seattle Police Department has released a heavily edited video from the shooting incident by Jimi Hendrix Park last night. Yesterday evening around 9:15 PM, 911 started receiving calls for shots fired in the 2300 block of Massachusetts Street, by the Urban League Village Apartments. As police arrived they heard gunfire and held their position to wait for more units to arrive. According to the Seattle Police Department, they were confronted by an armed man who fires at the police, and officers returned fire. During this period, 911 received a phone call from a woman reporting that she and her friend had been shot, and her friend was dying after being shot in the face three times. They reported they did not know their location, but 911 dispatch had identified it in the call as the 2300 block of Massachusetts Street. One woman died, the other is in critical condition, and the gunman was declared dead at the scene.
This video contains graphic scenes and descriptions of violence, viewer discretion is advised
The heavily edited video raises questions on the police account of the incident. The video shows two points of view. One from a group of heavily armed officers, who repeatedly order the gunman to put their gun down. There is suddenly a hail of semi-automatic gunfire from sidearms and rifles. A second body cam video from a closer perspective shows the gunman emerging from a driveway and raising his weapon toward police, but it does not appear to show the gunman firing at officers. The gunman has been identified by multiple sources as Gregory Taylor, who was a resident of the apartments.
The conduct of 911 operators will likely be called into question by the community. The woman caller repeats that her friend is dying and she doesn’t know her location. The first dispatcher sounds exasperated as he connects the Seattle Fire Department to the call before asking for other basic information.
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Protesters marched in Seattle tonight and dropped two banners over an overpass condemning Seattle Police actions. Later, protesters gathered outside of the East Precinct on Capitol Hill in a familiar scene, creating chalk art on the temporary wall. Seattle Police appear to have made one arrest during that protest.
[SEATTLE] – (MTN) One woman is dead, and another is fighting for her life after being shot last night. Seattle police received 911 calls about shots being fired in the 2300 block of Massachusetts Street, adjacent to the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center by Jimi Hendrix Park.
A Seattle police spokeswoman stated that the police heard gunfire upon arrival and waited for additional units to arrive before advancing into the scene. According to witnesses, including those we spoke to, they saw a gunman firing multiple shots. One individual stated Seattle police “swarmed” an armed person and shot him. Seattle police claim there was an exchange of gunfire with the suspect, who was hit multiple times.
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Officers secured the scene and found two shooting victims about a block away in a vehicle. Both women were transferred to Harborview Medical Center, where one remains in critical condition. The other woman died from multiple gunshot wounds while in transit to the hospital.
Multiple people have identified the person shot by Seattle police as Gregory Taylor. Seattle police stated that Taylor knew the two shooting victims and that this was not a random attack. Taylor’s next of kin was notified at the shooting scene shortly after arriving
After the shooting, several protesters arrived at the scene, which police had secured. Family members and others asked through social media for the protesters to leave. A small memorial was set up in Jimi Hendrix Park with candles and chalk art.
Tensions between the Seattle Police Department and the public are high after months of social justice protests, motivated by George Floyd’s death. The Seattle police have had to walk back claims of IEDs used by protesters, untrue accusations of extortion in CHOP over the summer, and multiple uses of force claims against the department. Since Adrian Diaz has become the Acting Chief, four officers have been fired for violating department policy. These incidents have worked against community trust, along with an extensive history of biased policing in BIPOC neighborhoods. The Seattle Police Department has been operating under a federal consent decree for almost a decade.
The Force Investigation Team is investigating the officer-involved shooting. On their blog, Seattle police stated they would release body cam video within 72 hours, per department policy.
[SEATTLE] – (MTN) Yesterday, Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida or Seattle caused a stir when he issued a court order that would release Proud Boy Ethan Nordean, also known as Rufio Panman, from federal custody to await trial. An emergency stay by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Beryl Howell kept Nordean in custody. The self-proclaimed Sergeant of Arms for the Proud Boys will be held in custody, awaiting transfer to Washington D.C.
Ethan Nordean’s family owns Wally’s Chowder House in Des Moines, Washington, a local icon for seafood in the South Sound. After Ethan Nordean was arrested, his father Mike Nordean released the following statement, “We have tried for a long while to get our son off the path which led to his arrest today – to no avail. Ethan will be held accountable for his actions.” In June of 2020, the elder Nordean released a statement indicating they had fired Ethan from Wally’s Chowder House and ended supporting their son. However, court records paint a different picture.
In arguing against the release of Ethan Nordean, federal prosecutors indicated that he lives rent-free in a home provided to him by his parents and has no financial obligations that would keep him in Puget Sound. Given his connections and documented role in the insurrection, the move to release Nordean becomes more puzzling. Ethan was witnessed leading a contingent of Proud Boys down Constitution Avenue while Donald Trump was finishing his speech, and leading the charge against the pedestrian barricades at the Capitol.
Ethan Nordean will have his next hearing in Washington D.C. on February 15, 2021.
UPDATE: Please read our updated story by clicking this link
[SEATTLE] – (MTN) The Seattle police department has reported an officer-involved shooting in the 2300 block of Massachusetts Street, adjacent to the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center. There are multiple officers on the scene and images from an independent journalist show a body draped in a sheet on the ground behind crime scene tape.
A Seattle Public Information Officer stated that Seattle Police were responding to 911 reports of shots fired in the area at 9:15 PM. When police arrived at the African American Heritage Museum and Cultural Center they heard shots being fired. Officers moved in and witnessed a single suspect, who the public information officer states fired at the officers. Multiple Seattle police officers returned fire, striking the suspect, who died on the scene. The person shot by Seattle police has been identified, but we have chosen to withhold the name at this time.
Officers found two additional shooting victims in an adjacent parking lot who had been shot multiple times. Both have been transferred to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Q13 Fox is reporting that one female is at Harborview in critical condition. The two shooting victims were shot by the suspect according to Seattle police. Seattle police report that they believe that the assailant and the two victims knew each other, and this was not a random shooting.
Seattle Police were responding to some kind of disturbance or report in the area, and a single officer is reported to have been involved in the shooting. Multiple reports on social media are indicating the person shot is a resident of the Urban League
Malcontent News has a team member en route and the Seattle Police Department is reporting that a Public Information Officer will be available for questions. This is a breaking news situation and we will provide updates.
The Washington Hospital Association announced that hundreds of thousands of fake N95 masks ended up in dozens of Washington hospitals. The counterfeit masks are well constructed and appear in every way to look like 3M manufactured masks. They even include the 3M logo, display of lot numbers, certifications, and warnings like a real mask.
Area hospitals are already sending out memos to their staff on the situation and pulling the impacted masks out of circulation. Hospital workers, including at critical medical facilities treating COVID, unknowingly started using the masks in late December. There is no information on if any hospital workers were sickened by using the fake masks.
N95 masks are produced through a specialized process that creates an electrostatic charge in the filter material. Most viruses are too small to be stopped by conventional paper or cloth masks, but the amount exhaled or inhaled is reduced. The electrostatic charge in an N95 and KN95 mask attracts the particles as they attempt to pass through the weave and capture them. Without the electrostatic charge, the cover provides no more protection than other woven masks.
On the left is a real N95 mask produced by 3M and on the right is a counterfeit N95 mask produced by an unknown source
3M developed this process, and their masks were readily available before the spread of COVID for medical and industrial use. High demand by the medical community has put a lot of strain on the supply chain, increasing costs by 200%, and during most of 2020, state and hospital officials were on their own to secure their supplies.
Fans of lowland snow and windstorms haven’t had much to rejoice about this winter, and it doesn’t look like that streak is going to change. A change in the weather is coming, including the coldest air of this winter, but the arctic blast will also bring sunshine and clear nights.
Friday afternoon will bring a mixed bag to the Kirkland-Bellevue-Woodinville area with sun, clouds, and a few raindrops. Temperatures will get into the low 50s, which is warm for this time of year and won’t drop below 40 tonight.
Saturday and Sunday are almost twins with typical February weather. Temperatures will reach into the 40s on both days. It will be cloudy with a chance of rain showers each day, but not a washout. Sunday night will drop to 32-36 degrees, making it possible for some wet snowflakes on Super Bowl Sunday. There is nothing in the forecast model to indicate a repeat of 2019, which brought a surprise snowstorm to the region.
All of next week is looking sunny for now, but forecasts more than five days out aren’t much better than throwing darts. Tuesday night could see temperatures as low as 20 degrees, and Wednesday may not get much above freezing. If the model holds, next week will deliver the first hard freeze of the season for the area.
Ethan Nordean, also known as Rufio Panman, is a well known Proud Boy leader with local ties to the Puget Sound area – local photographer Nate Gowdy witnesses Nordean with the Proud Boys in Washington D.C. on January 6 and spoke with him
His family owns Wally’s Chowder House in Des Moines, Washington, and Wally’s Drive-In in Buckley, Washington – Ethan was fired from Wally’s in June 2020
Wally’s Chowder House has been used as a location for Proud Boy meetings but his parents have denounced Ethan’s connection to the Proud Boys
Des Moines, Washington Mayor Matt Pina has refused to remove Wally’s Chowder House from the Des Moines EATS Program, a city program that buys vouchers from local restaurants so seniors and veterans have meals during the COVID pandemic lockdown
Nordean has frequently been accompanied by Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs, Eddie Block, and Zach Rehl
The Justice Department says a member of the Proud Boys has been arrested in Washington state in connection with the breach of the nation’s Capitol.
Ethan Nordean, also known as Rufio Panman, was due to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, after he was charged in Washington, D.C.
Activists question tactics in hotel raid over the weekend
WARNING: This report shows scenes of protest and police action against children. Viewer discretion is advised.
[OLYMPIA] – (Malcontent News) On the surface, the story is altruistic, and the visuals awful. Following in the footsteps of activists in Tacoma, an organization calling itself Oly Housing paid for 17 rooms on Saturday to place unhomed persons at a Red Lion Hotel in Olympia, Washington. Just as in Tacoma, the plan was to pay for one night and demand that city and county officials continue to pay for the rooms. On Sunday evening, a massive police response met activists where families, including small children, were removed by SWAT officers who threw flash-bang grenades into hotel rooms. As time has gone by, a clearer picture has emerged, raising questions from all sides.
On Saturday, activists engaged with some of the local unhomed in the downtown Olympia area to have them occupy the rooms. Thirty-three people, including children, agreed to accept the offer. Being unhomed is a challenge any time of the year, but rain, cold, harassment, and rats have made the encampments in Olympia untenable.
As checkout time came and went on Sunday, the property appeared calm. Protesters made demands for better sanitary facilities at encampments, permanent government housing solutions for those making less than $26,200 a year, for Thurston County to use available FEMA dollars to continue paying for the hotel rooms, and an end to sweeping homeless encampments. In a report from the Olympian, about a dozen people were sitting in the hotel’s lobby looking at their phones and reading magazines.
By the time sunset arrived, something had gone wrong. At about 6 PM, hotel staff called the police, reporting they had locked themselves in a basement room, were in fear for their safety, and armed protesters had taken over the lobby. There were unconfirmed reports of blacked-out windows and mattresses used for barricades. At 6:30 PM, Capitol Way in Olympia was closed, and SWAT teams rolled in with a heavy police presence. Law enforcement swept the hotel floor by floor, deploying multiple flash-bang grenades and making seven arrests. Video from the scene showed a woman with her two children, one swaddled in blankets, leaving the hotel under police guard while activists taunted officers.
On Monday, a press conference about the events wavered between reality and absurdity. Officials initially danced around the police tactics questions until finally admitting the use of “a couple” of devices to clear the hotel. Eyewitness reports, including reporters on the scene, reported more than a “couple” of blasts coming from inside the hotel. The statements of blacked-out windows and mattress barricades didn’t materialize in the conference either (nor were they denied).
What has emerged in the 48-hours since the raid is universal outrage. Local advocates for the unhomed are outraged over the tactics of Oly Housing. Supporters of Oly Housing are outraged over what they perceive as a false narrative aligned with the police and mainstream media and a lack of focus on tactics. Some of the unhomed are outraged, feeling they were used and weren’t fully informed of the legal jeopardy they could face. City and county officials are frustrated because the FEMA dollars for emergency housing were just made available by the new Biden Administration, in place for less than two weeks, and they were already in the process of applying for the money.
Right-wing groups are outraged at the perception of “Antifa” (an ideology and philosophy, not an organization) going unchecked and police not responding with enough violence against protesters. Many are questioning the police response to unhomed persons taking over a hotel, in contrast to the police response on January 6, when about 100 right-wing protesters stormed the broke through a gate, assaulted a state police recruit on live television, and stormed to the front door of the governor’s mansion. No one has been arrested in that incident despite overwhelming evidence of multiple crimes.
Long time Thurston County area advocate Renata Rollins lamented the fallout in a Facebook post. In her post, she called out activists within Housing Oly who were arrested on Sunday being represented by private attornies, while public defenders represented the unhomed. Working for over a decade in housing, she pointed out that Olympia had ended sweeps of homeless encampment like those done in Seattle and Bellingham two years ago, and the county already provides trash dumpsters and sanitary stations at the encampments. Trash pickup and dumpsters are not offered to the unhomed in cities like Seattle. While recognizing not enough is being done she wrote, “The group’s demands made no sense. They read like they were copy-pasted from some other community’s struggle because whoever penned them had no concept or context for what’s actually going on in Olympia and Thurston County.“
In contrast, activists engaged in direct action believe that not enough is being done to support the unhomed, which has grown in 2020 due to COVID and living in conditions that only further spread the disease. They believe the government establishment serves corporate America and the wealthy and views the unhomed as disposable. Representative of the political horseshoe formed versus a straight line, some within the direct action groups believe that only the use of force will change the system.
Established activists in the South Sound have expressed growing frustration with direct action groups’ tactics in January. A protest led by outside groups in Tacoma over a police cruiser driving through a group of people earlier in the month led to broken windows and graffiti in a Black neighborhood. In that incident, local activists blamed outsiders from Seattle, Olympia, and Portland for the damage.
The challenges facing the unhomed are undeniable. The failures to address homelessness at federal, state, county, and local levels should not be thrown at local activists’ feet. Further north in King County, enough private and public funds are spent addressing houselessness to solve the problem, with little effect. The connections of addiction and mental illness to homelessness are undeniable. Despite campaign promises from the Trump Administration to address the opioid epidemic, 34-million Americans abuse or are addicted to dangerous drugs. King County just experienced its highest number of overdose deaths ever. Washington state continues to be one of the worst states in the country for mental health treatment.
What is reality is that most of the 33 people who occupied hotel rooms on Saturday night are back out on the street, living in squalid conditions with minimal support.
Journalists, activists, and researchers defending the First Amendment
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