City warns about protests as organizers say Boeing has changed plans for Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit underway at convention center

Organizers planning protests against this week’s 2024 Aerospace and Defense Supplier Summit at Seattle’s downtown convention center say Boeing’s decision to move some of the multi-day event online show their efforts are making an impact.

The City of Seattle sent a bulletin to neighborhood business groups around downtown and Capitol Hill warning about possible protests and unrest related to the summit. “There may be demonstrations and traffic disruptions in your area related to a Seattle Convention Center event taking place 3/12 – 3/14,” the bulletin shared by the Capitol Hill Business Alliance reads. Continue reading

‘In Recess’ — Arrests after protest disrupts Seattle City Council

The Seattle City Council stopped its proceedings multiple times and six people were arrested Tuesday after public comment was limited during a demonstration at City Hall calling for support for a group of asylum seekers that has been bounced around the region as housing options have fallen through.

“Officers were called to Seattle City Council Chambers at about 2:55 p.m., as people filled the room and continued to interfere with the session,” SPD reported in a brief on the Tuesday arrests. “Those who were part of the disruption were told to leave the chambers, but they refused and were told they would be arrested if they continued.”

Police say the protesters were arrested for criminal trespass with one man also facing charges of obstruction.

With shouts growing as the time allotted for public comment ended, the protest and disruptions left the council and its six first-time members as well as council president Sara Nelson scattered with some calling for police to intervene. Continue reading

Seattle reaches $10M settlement with 50 plaintiffs harmed by police response to 2020 Black Lives Matter and CHOP protests

The city will pay $10 million to protesters harmed during the Seattle Police Department’s response to the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests in the city and the CHOP Capitol Hill protest camps, settling a sprawling lawsuit and bringing to a close one of the last major legal battles from the period of unrest and heavy response from law enforcement.

“A historic legal battle of epic proportions brought by 50 George Floyd/BLM Peaceful Protesters against Seattle and its Police Department has ended,” the Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore announced Wednesday.

“This decision was the best financial decision for the city considering risk, cost, and insurance,” Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison said in a statement on the deal. “The case has been a significant drain on the time and resources of the city and would have continued to be so through an estimated three-month trial that was scheduled to begin in May.”

Davison said the city “admits no wrongdoing in the case, which was significant in scope, with plaintiffs alleging injuries sustained during the protests.”

Included in the plaintiffs is the estate of Summer Taylor, the Capitol Hill resident and protester who died in a July 2020 crash on I-5 as a driver attempted to speed through a demonstration on the freeway. In September, CHS reported on the plea deal that brought a 6 1/2 year sentence for the driver in that case.

That sentence and the newly announced settlement mark some of the last major legal maneuverings as the City of Seattle has been tied up in court for years in battles over civil rights and wrongful death lawsuits stemming from the protests in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd and the flawed Seattle Police response. Continue reading

Anniversary of Jaahnavi Kandula’s death brings decision in officer accountability investigation, vigil at East Precinct

Punishment is in the labor contract-limited hands of Chief Adrian Diaz as the civilian-led Office of Police Accountability has found Seattle Police veteran and union vice president Dan Auderer violated department rules when he joked about the January, 2023 death of 23-year-old student Jaahnavi Kandula with Seattle Police Officer Guild president Mike Solan.

Tuesday night, demonstrators gathered outside the East Precinct to mark the one-year anniversary of Kandula’s death. E Pine at 12th was reported briefly closed to traffic during the vigil and march.

“We will never stop fighting for Jaahnavi, until there is accountability and justice in her name,” one participant posted about the vigil. “We will continue to show up every year to remind these 2 how precious and valuable Jaahnavi’s life was. We will never forgive and we will never forget.” Continue reading

Seattle rally against ‘U.S. bombing of Yemen’ to gather on Capitol Hill

Seattle organizers representing groups including the Palestinian Youth Movement, Falastiniyat, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation say they will gather on Capitol Hill Friday despite frigid temperatures for an emergency rally protesting the US-led military strikes on Yemen.

The rally is set to start Friday night at Seattle Central’s plaza near Broadway and Pine. Continue reading

Demonstration calling for Gaza ceasefire blocks I-5 below Capitol Hill — UPDATE

Dozens marched onto the northbound lanes of I-5 and blocked the Seattle interstate below Capitol Hill for about five hours Saturday afternoon as hundreds or protesters gathered and watched from the Olive Way overpass in the latest major call in the city for a ceasefire in Gaza.

The protest and march began earlier in the day outside the Melrose Starbucks Roastery where demonstrators have continued to target the coffee giant after it surged into the debate over the Israel-Hamas war in a social media tangle with the Starbucks Workers United group working to unionize its employees. Continue reading

No charges over Durkan, Best deleted texts from 2020 protests

No charges will be filed against former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Police Chief Carmen Best over deleted text messages from the time of the 2020 protests, saying a King County Sheriff investigation did not find evidence of criminal intent to destroy public records.

King County Prosecutor Lisa Manion’s announcement ends the investigation launched in 2022 after a whistle-blower revealed thousands of texts exchanged between Durkan, Best, current Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins and more officials during the 2020 Black Lives Matter and anti-police protests had been deleted from city-owned devices.

The deleted texts became the centerpiece of a lawsuit brought against the city by Capitol Hill property owners and developers with claims of “Spoliation of Evidence” and intentional subterfuge.

The city has claimed the deletions were caused by factory resets, 30-day auto deletions, and manual deletions.

But some of the explanations bordered on the comical including a Durkan oceanic mishap: Continue reading

Driver in I-5 collision that killed Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter demonstrator pleads guilty

Taylor

The driver in the July 2020 I-5 crash that killed a Capitol Hill Black Lives Matter protester and severely injured another demonstrator has pleaded guilty.

CHS reported here on the impending trial for Dawit Kelete, now 30, after repeated delays. Kelete’s attorney’s reached a plea agreement with King County Prosecutor in which the defendant admitted guilt to one count of vehicular homicide, a count of vehicular assault, and a count of reckless driving. The sides also reached an agreement on a sentencing recommendation for six years in prison and another year and a half probation. The sentencing is scheduled for September.

Summer Taylor died in the crash and Diaz Love was sent to the hospital with serious injuries in the collision that was captured on video and further inflamed the volatile situation in the city in the wake of the forceful clearance of the CHOP protest camp on Capitol Hill in July 2020. Continue reading

Three years later, delays continue in trial for driver in I-5 collision that killed Black Lives Matter demonstrator

(Image: @nowah_j)

Tuesday marked three years since a driver hit and killed one person while seriously injuring another during a demonstration that blocked I-5 through downtown Seattle at the height of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. The legal process to try the man behind the wheel that night continues after years of delays.

Summer Taylor died in the crash and Diaz Love was sent to the hospital with serious injuries in the collision that was captured on video and further inflamed the volatile situation in the city in the wake of the forceful clearance of the CHOP protest camp on Capitol Hill.

According to court records, the latest trial date for driver Dawit Kelete is set for later this month but the start has been delayed repeatedly over the past year. Kelete pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide, vehicular assault, and reckless driving in the weeks following the tragedy.

Earlier this year, it was agreed he was competent to stand trial and that a defense of diminished capacity could not be used. Though he passed a sobriety and breathalyzer test after the crash, prosecution and court records show Kelete has suffered from opioid addiction.

Meanwhile, his defense has also battled over alleged contamination of blood test work executed by the state crime lab. Continue reading

‘Misleading account’ — Former Chief Best rebuked for statements to public during CHOP

Former Chief Best at a press conference at CHOP in the summer of 2020 (Image: CHS)

Former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best will not have to answer for dishonest and inaccurate statements made during CHOP that an investigation says inflamed the volatile situation around the 2020 protest camp on Capitol Hill that left two teenagers murdered and a string of litigation that continues three years later.

In a memo on the Seattle Office of Police Accountability’s findings in its investigation of the chief’s role in the public safety breakdown around the protests, Mayor Bruce Harrell joined in criticism of Best for making untrue statements to the public but said her refusal to participate in the OPA investigation prevented “a full assessment of the propriety of her actions during an important moment in Seattle history.”

“It is in the interests of the public and the City of Seattle to fully understand the events and the decision-making process that surrounded the protests and public demonstrations that occurred during the summer of 2020,” the Harrell memo reads. “The Executive believes that public employees who have had the honor to serve the City in such leadership positions should assist in establishing a review and record with the hopes of saving lives, reducing property destruction and loss, and addressing the erosion of public trust.” Continue reading