Seattle Police elected Mike Solan to head their labor union in early 2020. In the year since, he has used his position to spread disinformation, minimize accountability, and has done irreparable damage to the relationship between the police and the community they are supposed to serve. Given his behavior over the past year, and in light of the recent coup attempt at the US capitol (which at least 5 SPD officers were present for), Seattle PD and SPOG have questions to answer about the involvement of individual officers in the coup attempt, the material ties that Solan and other Seattle officers have to known white supremacist groups, and whether the internal culture at the Seattle PD that emboldened or encouraged officers to express solidarity with a riot to overthrow the government. We don't trust the city's existing protocol for police accountability to yield the answers needed restore faith between police and the people they're supposed to serve. City council should issue a subpoena and give Solan an opportunity to go on the record about the above issues.
#SubpoenaSolan
This past Wednesday, Seattle Police attacked a group of protesters on Capitol Hill, leaving one protester hospitalized at Harborview in critical condition. The protester suffered a seizure after being tackled to the pavement by several officers, left unconscious and untreated for several minutes.
The Seattle Police Department has since released a public statement, side-stepping accountability, claiming the victim's seizure was caused by a "substance the subject had ingested prior to police contact," despite not having any medical evidence to support their claim. Besides being baseless, this claim also fails to address SPD's failure to provide proper or prompt medical attention, not taking a single precaution to account for head, neck, or spinal injuries.
This violent attack happened the day after Election Day, in the wake of a month-long fear-mongering campaign by Seattle Police and the Mayor's office, claiming the city needed to prepare for mass violence surrounding the election. This violent attack happened just one day after Election Day, in the wake of a month-long fear-mongering campaign by Seattle Police and the Mayor's office, insinuating there was a high likelihood for mass violence surrounding the election. In other words, the brutal force used by Seattle Police that night appears to be the result of a premeditated strategy, of a police department groomed to meet nonviolent protests with disproportionate force.
This violent attack, and subsequent negligence on the part of at least a dozen officers, is representative of the type of "public safety" provided by the Seattle Police Department, and is a shining example of why they must be defunded and dismantled.
If you are able to donate to support Kel's recovery, please do: /f/medical-costs-for-seattle-protester-on-intubator
Last night, the Seattle Police Department used cars and weaponry to carry out a violent protest in response to minuscule budget cuts. They harassed demonstrators, threw explosives, and used sirens and loudspeakers to terrorize an entire neighborhood. And we paid them to do it.
The Seattle Police Union put out a heavy-handed propaganda video a few days ago, showing dozens of officers committing widespread violence against a group of protesters, all because someone touched their fence. Their video was a little one-sided, so I added some annotations.
Seattle has a brand new police chief! He has some very interesting ideas on how to revamp the department... such as doing the exact opposite of what the public has demanded. He had his first press conference last week, so I decided to give him a few notes...
Once again, the Seattle Police Department has outdone themselves, unleashing a violent, unprovoked attack on a group of protesters outside their union headquarters. Their campaign of terror continued late into the night, resulting in organizers being hospitalized and arrested. Watching the huge collection of videos from last night, it is clear Seattle Police planned and coordinated this attack... They even had a soundtrack queued up. This has been their standard operating procedure for weeks, brutally and brazenly attacking protesters across the city.
It is important to remember that the union headquarters is not official police property, and the huge, coordinated show of force raises real questions about who exactly is in command of the Seattle Police Department... The Chief of Police and the Mayor, or the police union?
Less than a week after brutalizing a candlelight vigil, Seattle Police manage to lower the bar even further, brutally dismantling a community-supported mutual aid area in a public park, which has been providing crucial supplies and services to Seattle's homeless community members.
TW: Police Violence
We've seen a lot of outlandish brutality from Seattle Police over the years, but never anything quite like this. A few nights ago, Seattle Police violently attacked a candlelight vigil, breaking car windows, deploying weapons, and assaulting anyone in reach. This unprovoked escalation has become a trademark of the Seattle Police Department over the years, particularly in the past few months, but it's especially upsetting to see them attacking a young group of protesters who showed up to demonstrate and mourn the loss of their friend.
A few days ago, Mayor Durkan decided to veto the city council's latest budget amendments, which would have taken just 1% of this year's budget from the Seattle Police Department. Mayor Durkan's recollection of events did not seem accurate, so I made some corrections.
TW - Police Violence
The violence committed by Seattle Police on Sunday night was worse than we thought. After pushing the protest back to the CID, dozens of SPD officers hunted down and brutalized anyone they suspected of being a protester. The beating in this video is particularly bad and should result in criminal charges for the officers involved.
I think it's important to talk about what happened this past Sunday at the protest against the Seattle Police union. SPD claims it was a riot. In fact, officers cornered protesters in alley, deployed chemical weapons, and broke multiple laws while committing widespread violence.
I know that most of you following me already know this stuff... The lies coming out of the Seattle Police Department have become monotonous and completely predictable. But plenty of people still believe them, and they are relentlessly pushing this fiction to local news, who regurgitate it without question.
CW: Police Violence
Oh my god. Seattle Police attacked a crowd of people at Cal Anderson yesterday after their officers assaulted a bystander. Police were supposed to help a person in crisis. Instead they arrested a black person at the park with their 6-year old child.
This is truly a perfect metaphor for why the Seattle Police Department must be defunded. Someone in crisis needed help. They didn't need a gang of officers with weapons. Instead of helping, police escalated the situation, hurt people, and put another black person in jail.
Of course, Seattle Police have claimed their officers were assaulted, and that the use of force was justified. They do not acknowledge the fact that their officer started the physical altercation. We can expect them to fail to hold their officers accountable and for the department to continue pushing the false narrative.
