great coverage of the williams inquest. I hope that we see similar coverage of the christopher harris civil trial thats upcoming, and just as egregious a incident, IMO.
That last question from Buck to Williams was tricky:
Buck: Do you know one way or another if he threatened police officers?
Williams: No.
Is Williams responding that his brother didn't threaten police officers or that he doesn't know if his brother threatened police officers?
I wish the prosecution would have objected and asked for clarification.
@8-also the question, cited yesterday, re was he wearing a belt? lawyers don't ask random questions on cross examination, and they don't ask questions they don't know the answer to. I'd speculate it ties to trying to pin a sudden motion (to hold his pants up?) on Williams, hence trying to justify the shooting.
/Perry Mason
I hope that Officer Birk has to take responsibility for this... but the cynic in me predicts that John Williams, by virtue of being poor, brown, and a chronic drunk, will be found at fault for not obeying the officer. How often is the SPD found guilty of wrongdoing?... and even if Officer Birk is found guilty, I doubt that there will be any punishment at all for him, but merely a crummy statement of regret.
"When quested.." What? You mean, when questioned? Because "quested", although it can mean seeking or pursuing something (usually an expedition), it sounds like something from The Sword and the Stone. Just the facts, okay?
@8 -- It's an inquest proceeding, not a trial. The purpose of an inquest is fact-finding; it lacks many of the adversarial elements of the regular rules of criminal procedure. You might have noticed that there are *3* parties involved -- Birk, William's family and the county prosecutor.
BTW, even with the overwhelming evidence that Birk acted with complete incompetence and brazen disregard for public safety -- not to mention a frightening propensity for violence, I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if the county files charges. Because of the exceptions in the statute for members of law enforcement, it will be a nearly impossible legal case. They basically need to prove that Birk had *malicious* intent when he shot Williams. That's a high bar....
When the videoclip came out in the news, a couple of things were really obvious -people around Williams didn't seem bothered, and In the soundbite, there is only a 7-10 second gap between when the officer tells him to drop the knife - not enough time for most people to act, nevermind someone who is hearing impaired. IMHO pretty strong indications that the officer's actions were over the top.
Really, the officer needs to be charged - not just disciplined or given desk duty. He needs to be charged with a criminal offence. For one thing, he committed a crime, (uh, used lethal force in a situation where it wasn't necessary) for another, it seems like police are often not held accountable for their actions when they *do* break the law/use exessive force, as a result, I think people are less likely to trust police (especially racially, economially, disadvantaged people, ). Not all police are bad, some are good, some are compassionate even - but a few "bad apples" makes everybody look like shit.
The Williams mural was created by No Touching Ground, and was completed about a month ago. It looks even better in real life, come check it out before someone pastes over the top of it.
@9 and @17,
Also, the painting of John is based on a photograph by David Entrikin, part of his encyclopedic series of portraits of homeless and formerly homeless Seattle men and women.
The tragedy of this is that it didn't have to happen. I don't think we heard from Birk why he felt it necessary to approach within 20 feet - 'requiring' him to shoot when he felt threatened - instead of waiting for backup.
One more thought about the Grant Leavitt patrol car video: what exactly is a 'designated shooter' ??? A phrase used during that curious lining-up ceremony.
@14,
True, although it would still be nice if that particular question and the answer were made more clear. And perhaps it will be (or already has been) but it's not clear just from the transcript Cienna posted.
I was batoned and pepper sprayed without any notice while actively walking away from a wall of cops during the Mardi Gras fiasco way back when. Their expanding curtain (which enclosed my car) came up to where I was sitting patiently on a bus bench, they smacked the guy next to me without any comment, so I started walking away - and got beaten down and pepper sprayed... while trying to get out of their way. I was fully sober and didn't say or hear anything, just got a body shot and pepper spray.
(Seattle) police may overreact too often. Hopefully this tragic death gets police interacting more rationally with the people they "protect".
His nation in Canada?
His brother?
The people of Seattle?
SLOG?
And who is the next John Williams?
And what are you doing about it?
Whoops, that blows a whole in the case against Birk.
What did you do?
I wish the prosecution would have objected and asked for clarification.
/Perry Mason
BTW, even with the overwhelming evidence that Birk acted with complete incompetence and brazen disregard for public safety -- not to mention a frightening propensity for violence, I'd be (pleasantly) surprised if the county files charges. Because of the exceptions in the statute for members of law enforcement, it will be a nearly impossible legal case. They basically need to prove that Birk had *malicious* intent when he shot Williams. That's a high bar....
Really, the officer needs to be charged - not just disciplined or given desk duty. He needs to be charged with a criminal offence. For one thing, he committed a crime, (uh, used lethal force in a situation where it wasn't necessary) for another, it seems like police are often not held accountable for their actions when they *do* break the law/use exessive force, as a result, I think people are less likely to trust police (especially racially, economially, disadvantaged people, ). Not all police are bad, some are good, some are compassionate even - but a few "bad apples" makes everybody look like shit.
The Williams mural was created by No Touching Ground, and was completed about a month ago. It looks even better in real life, come check it out before someone pastes over the top of it.
Also, the painting of John is based on a photograph by David Entrikin, part of his encyclopedic series of portraits of homeless and formerly homeless Seattle men and women.
One more thought about the Grant Leavitt patrol car video: what exactly is a 'designated shooter' ??? A phrase used during that curious lining-up ceremony.
True, although it would still be nice if that particular question and the answer were made more clear. And perhaps it will be (or already has been) but it's not clear just from the transcript Cienna posted.
(Seattle) police may overreact too often. Hopefully this tragic death gets police interacting more rationally with the people they "protect".