Tagged: John T. Williams

A 34-foot totem pole honoring slain First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams was carried from the Seattle Waterfront to Seattle Center and raised by some 90 people on Sunday. The pole was carried to its final destination with traditional singing, drumming, and dancing. 

It’s been more than nine months since a Seattle police officer killed First Nations woodcarver John T. Williams, and tensions are still running high among Native Americans. They say the shooting brings up the long history of brutality Native people have faced.

The anxiety has also affected children, who’ve had a tough time putting Williams’ death in perspective.

This coming weekend, a local theater group will debut a performance to help young Native Americans move forward, starting with a look at the past.

"We have nothing to hide" – those were the words of Seattle's chief of police yesterday.  The department is under fire. 

The questions stem from a federal review of the fatal shooting of a first nation's wood carver last August, as well as what many people perceive as a prior pattern of  abusive violence against minority groups.

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Carpool Tolls Likely on I-405
• Not Guilty Plea in Prison Guard Murder Charge
• Grand Jury Request by Woodcarver's Family

I-405 Carpool Tolls Coming?

As drivers get ready to pay new tolls this spring to cross the Highway 520 floating bridge – more tolls could be on the way.  State lawmakers have proposed charging cars with only one or two people in them to use carpool lanes on I-405 from Lynnwood to Bellevue. 

An ancient cedar tree was delivered earlier today (Tuesday) to the Seattle Center. Several totem poles carved from it in public will commemorate the life and art of native carver John T. Williams.

His shooting by a Seattle police officer last August has escalated tensions between law enforcement and people of color. But Williams' family says the "carve-in" that has just begun is about remembering his cultural legacy. 

Making headlines around the Northwest this morning:

• Hundreds Protest in Seattle After Birk Decision
• Agreement Reached on Deficit Cutting Package
• Wet Snow for Parts of Western Washington
• More Charges in Lakewood Police Shooting Case

Surprise, Anger, Emotion Follow Birk Rebuke, Resignation

Protesters numbering in the hundreds marched from downtown Seattle to a Capitol Hill Police precinct following a day of dramatic developments in the case of Officer Ian Birk. In the span of a few hours Wednesday:

• The King County Prosecutor's Office announced it would not file criminal charges against Birk for the shooting death of Native American woodcarver John T. Williams.
• The Seattle Police Firearms Review Board reported its finding that Birk's shooting of Williams was unjustified. (Video here.)
• Officer Birk resigned from the Seattle Police Department.
  

The shooting death of a Native American woodcarver by a Seattle police officer last summer was not justified. That’s the finding announced by the police department’s Firearms Review Board today. 

The review found Officer Ian Birk took actions that were "outside of policy, tactics and training."

The case is “among the most egregious failings that I’ve seen in my thirty years with the Seattle Police Department,” said the board chairman, Deputy Chief Clark Kimerer.