Posted at 2:11 p.m. and updated with better sound: The first version of the video we posted included a cacophony from talk radio (presumably playing inside the patrol car) in the left channel. We’ve removed the left audio channel in the video below so you can hear Officer Birk’s mic much more clearly as he gives commands to Williams and recounts the events to officers afterward.
Here’s the just-released, 17-minute video taken from the dashboard camera of Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk’s patrol car before, during, and after he fatally shot John T. Williams:
Just after 1:00 minute, the video shows Williams shuffling across the street—carrying a board and minding his own business—in front of Birk’s squad car. Birk jumps out and yells, “Hey, put the knife down.” Then Birk follows Williams out of the frame. After two more commands (audible while the men are off screen) there are shots fired that killed Williams. A woman is also shown crossing the street who appears to witness the whole thing from maybe 20 feet away.
After 2:00, Officer Birk says, “Ma’am, he had a knife and he wouldn’t drop it.”
At 2:30, backup cars arrive.
At about 3:00, a voice (probably Birk’s) says, “Yeah, I am okay. He had the knife open.” (The investigation has since said that police found the knife closed.)
At 5:10, another officer can be heard telling Birk, “You did the right thing. Hang in there, Ian.”
I wonder if Mike “The Gasman” Gastineau will have to testify in court?
Seriously though, this cop needs to go away for a long, long time. There was no justification for this shooting what so ever. What a sad story.
@31 – Wish you were even partially correct. Unfortunately, we keep seeing evidence to contrary. In this case, the man was carrying a closed knife and was sober. Shot dead. In the “Mexican Piss” incident, an innocent unarmed man was walking down the street. In the recent Kid getting beat up in a mini-mart incident, again, kid, unarmed, buying a candy bar.
Oh, that’s right, they weren’t white. Wonder if that had anything to do with these people being beat up and shot.
I know many great cops. I rely on them often. I also know, and they know, that there is a problem inside of the SPD. And the public has lost faith in them because it’s not being addressed by our electeds on City Council. Not good for the cops, not good for the City.
City Council – we need YOU to do something. Not just allowing someone else to investigate. Action. More SPD oversight with teeth. NOW. Do more people need to die before you act? Seriously, this is fucked up.
Fucking horrible, he needs to be prosecuted for murder.
“seemed relaxed and purposeful. Maybe even a little excited”
Actually, I think he looks somewhat perturbed, maybe even flummoxed with a hint of delusionment.
@52, Meinert wrote, “I know many great cops. I rely on them often.”
They’re out publicly denouncing Birk’s actions, right?
@50 – Oh that’s right, she’s white. They can’t just gun her down with impunity. How silly of me.
The mexican’s hombre I’d being charged with robbery with a machete and the bottle if Corona in this case was present at the robbery but not charged. Read the report.
@56 you got that right.
One rule for whites.
One gun for everyone else.
Got Justice?
Not in Seattle.
Why dont cops talk? Because everyday they risk their lives to protect your ass and have the right to use deadly force to do that.
Even if a cop has his doubts, why give you unreasonable cop hating assholes ammunition?
How come I haven’t seen Chief Diaz’s name in this thread yet?
@59: Police don’t risk their lives every day, and most of what they do is not protection. Roofers risk their lives every day.
@59 – Because they’re meant to protect US, not other members of their little gang. They have the right to use force to do that because we fucking gave it to them. We have a right to take it back if they abuse it, as SPD have increasingly been doing. It’s not us vs. them, they’re our employees and they’re meant to enforce the rules that we set. This includes upon themselves. If they fail to do that we have a right an obligation to fire them.
Some observations:
As people noticed, the left channel is the in-car mic and the right channel is the officer-worn mic.
At about 6:50 into the video, an officer instructs Birk to remove his officer-worn microphone and put it in his car, which he does. Since Birk’s statements and actions in the minutes following the incident were direct evidence as to his conduct and state of mind, it puzzles me that SPD deliberately disabled the system that was collecting that evidence.
(It’s also worth mentioning that section 17.260 of the SPD Manual says, “The DICVS (–that’s Digital In-Car Video System –) will not be deactivated during citizen contacts.”)
@52 they know? Then how about some of them come to the news media anonymously to speak out?
Fnarf, what about your hero McGunn Surely the buck stops with Jim?
@44: Police officers generally are not allowed to speak on the record concerning issues that are currently under investigation, unless given permission from higher-ups to do so. It’s the same with soldiers.
@66: Good point. Somebody please direct me to a single instance of a police officer denouncing the actions of similar ogres after the investigation into their heinous behavior has concluded.
Also, does anyone know if Birk is still on paid vacation?
@63, but of course once Williams was dead it was no longer a citizen contact. Convenient, that.
I’m at work so I haven’t heard the audio, but I watched the video’s first three minutes until the other cops arrive. That’s enough to make the cop look like a murderer. The rest is just sickening corroboration.
Fuck the PO-lice comin’ straight from the middle-class / young brah got it bad cause I smoke grass
What a video. I’m FLOORED. I am very pro-cop, and there’s little defense for this one’s actions here. The timeline does not support Birk’s report. Period. Anyone who saw this happen has a moral obligation to speak up. If you’re in the video, all the more because you have proof that you were there.
I hate how they keep using the word “suspect”.
I hate how we all just watched a man take his last steps.
I hate how not a soul will ever face charges for this.
I hate how empty this makes me feel.
wow as a former police officer i have to say that was completely fucked up. i’m sure if this wasn’t witnessed the way it was they woulda put a throw away in his hand. common practice in new york thats how i know. this is fucked up. yes i would prosecute this cop , no questions asked.
apparently the SPD, like the military, has lowered their standards for the force. you’d think they’d want smarter cops out there, not giving the rest of the force a bad name.
given the complete lack of oversight of SPD in the last few years, i will be horrified, but not surprised if this fucktard who should be the one gunned down, gets off. seriously fucking sick of the douchenozzles who are paid to protect the citizens of this city.
@31 “Murder? Oh ladies, grow up. The most he’s guilty if is not following proper procedures. Fire him.”
The rules of my job also restrict me from shooting customers to death, and if I break those rules I’ll face murder charges. Why should cops be held to different standard?
WHERE’S DIAZ?
It all comes from Chief Diaz. He’s the patrol officer’s boy. They know he will always support them; that’s how he got to be chief. If you know you can get away with murder, you’ll sink to murder.
It’s been almost four months; why are we not hearing the sounds of balls being busted over there? Because Diaz works for the officers, not the other way around.
It’s not about Birk. Birk screwed up. It happens. He misread the situation and made a deadly error. The problem is the attitude that Birk carried with him into that situation, which every officer carries with him, and about the cover they know they have from any repercussions. That’s not Birk’s fault, it’s Diaz’s.
@78 Diaz and Burgess are SPD. There is no oversight. Until the Council and Mayor buck up and refuse a new labor deal come 12/31. But still–neither the Stranger or Publicola have covered the state of labor negotiations between the SPD in light of this bloody year. If it was covered in the Times or PI, I missed it there as well.
Why is no one reporting on that? Is it a topic people are unwilling to cover? I don’t get it.
@79, it’s a hard topic to cover because it’s closed-door. Labor negotiations are not open to the public or the press. That’s not going to change.
@80 some papers in this town are willing to write a post calling on people to contact the Council and Mayor with clickable email links calling for us to make sure the right park ends up in a community space.
I’m saddened they haven’t done likewise to ensure that the Mayor and Council don’t let the SPD off the hook without getting a new labor deal which includes sharp teeth for OPA in light of this bloody and violent year. It would probably burn bridges to kingdom come between said paper and some police, but… its the right thing to do. I’ve called the Mayor’s office and contacted people on the council about this. Everyone needs to.
Or if the city leadership won’t man up, maybe a city level initiative that would prohibit the city from accepting a labor deal in 2012 and going forward that didn’t include certain concessions. No strong OPA=no labor deal.
Yeah, what @79 said —
Why SPD’s sweetheart deal with Stafford Frey? Why OPA’s procedural handicaps? Why no legal indemnity for the OPA’s civilian review board? Why no legal power whatsoever for the OPA’s civilian auditor?
Same answer to all four questions: SPOG. Somebody oughta write a story on ’em. Nudge, cough, Dominic.
@82 OPA with final disciplinary authority, let them appeal to the full Council. The 99.999% of SPD that are good cops would have nothing to every worry about. If it rousts out 1-5 crap cops, then good riddance.
It’s absurd that the Chief of Police can procedurally veto any decision of OPA. Did you all know that? Diaz has a blank check. That has to end forever, it’s a ridiculous benefit.
OPA membership= no police oversight in the process.
The Stafford Frey thing is done now, isn’t it? The SPOG should be free to hire whomever they would like for their personal defense. The City, as their employers, can hire whomever we deem.
@83, on that note,
Did you know the OPA auditor is not allowed to know the identities of the officers being investigated, and thus may not review videos showing the officers?
@84 really? I didn’t know that. This SPOG contract sounds like a joke designed to hurt Seattle residents.
I like how that womans reaction to the shooting was the similar to the way I react to the clipboard cause people on broadway. Annoyed/stunned/confused.
@84, wait, what the fuck? That has to be in error. We were specifically told (I think here on Stranger on the Times) that OPA was investigating the Birk. I know for a fact that OPA is investigating the medical marijuana home invasion because I was in a mail thread with someone at City Hall about that–after I complained about it–and who looped in both John Diaz and the head of OPA, who out of the blue told that OPA was looking into that home invasion based on the referral. I apparently got there first thanks to the Council staffer CCing me and everyone else. The names of the involved officers there have been all over the news as well when it happened, thanks to Dom. So is this true?
Well, I know that if I was mayor, the chief would be in my office right now, and I’d be telling him, look, I don’t give a shit about OPA or anyone else or what they think; _I’M_ telling you that this is unacceptable to _ME_ and I want to hear how you’re going to get the force under control, and I want to hear it very soon. I don’t want to hear about promises and investigations and action plans and bullet points; I want to hear that this shit is stopped, and that every single one of your officers understands that, or I’m going to be hearing you packing up your desk.
Unfortunately, there’s no way the mayor can win a showdown like that. He picked the wrong man. He simply doesn’t have the power to control his own force. The SPOG is going to tell him, “it’s OK, man, we’ve got it, it’ll never happen again” and then it will happen again.
00:59
Williams is crossing the street, and it appears the knife is open and is scraping something.
Repeat, he has an open knife.
Cop sees man, walking in a less than alert manner (looking down while crossing, holding open knife).
So, when he leaves car, in his mind, is a disheveled man with an open knife. At what point the knife gets closed I don’t know…but maybe it was done while Williams back was turned, therefore, the cop assumes its still open as Williams comes toward him.
Interpretation:
1. Man with open knife, seen as threat
2. Cop pursues
3. Man turns and rushes toward cop
4. Cop asks man to halt.
5. He does not.
6 Cop stops him.
Ian Birk is a fucking scumbag.
@87: Joe: I want to know, too. Dom?
@88: Fnarf: Right on. SPOG puts us all in danger. So what can we do?
@89: Doubtful. When Birk was babbling his excuses to his buddies after he killed Williams, surely he would have accused Williams of charging him if Williams had made even the slightest indication of doing so. And if I remember correctly, he shot Williams in the side. Williams didn’t seem agile enough to have galloped at Birk.
Your premise is flawed, as is your logic. Man with open knife CARVING, should not be seen as a threat any more than a baker with knife cutting bread should be.
@87, @91,
I should clarify: it’s the OPA auditor (and the review board as well, actually) that is not allowed to know the identities of the officers involved. The OPA investigators are not bound by the same restriction. The demarcation is pretty clear: the investigators, being officers themselves, get all the information. The OPA review board & auditor, being civilians, are kept in the dark as to officer identities.
Photos of him should be posted around town with the word “murderer” under it. Everyone in Seattle should know who this asshole is!
I made a mistake which I need to correct. Per SMC 3.28.855, the OPA civilian auditor “may audit any and all OPA records.”
I could have sworn I saw a rule which stated otherwise somewhere, but for the moment it appears to me that it’s only the OPA’s civilian review board that is not allowed to know the identities of officers being investigated.
It’s a dangerous time in Seattle to be a nonwhite man of indeterminate age.
Aaaaaaand, I’m back for a second helping of crow.
I just learned that the former practice of withholding the identities of officers from the review board was abolished about a year ago:
Ruling expands review board’s access to …
My grandmother used to tell me that they used to hunt indians down back home in indian country and lynch them, burn them or just shoot them in the street, even in the 20s and 30s. Her hallmark of a good police force is one that doesn’t do that, one that can rise above this primal need to shoot the gawky injun.
This is a very bad police force indeed. His co-workers may not have done what he’s done, but they’ve remained silent. They’ve covered for him. They’ve protected him. They’ve taken him at his word.
This whole thing has sickened me, it’s depressed me, it’s bothered me. I thought, growing up Comanche in a very culturally robust household, I thought I’d never have to sit here and think about the possibility of, say, what if this was one of my relatives? The Comanche broke off soon after returning from thire last trip down the Snake River and down the Columbia and up to the Puget Sound with the Shoshone, and so certainly this man was a relative, he was a long-distant brother and he was shot like a dog in the street.
This is the most fucked up thing I’ve had to watch unfold in years.
I could have sworn I grew up in a country where a man was innocent until proven guilty. Where did all of you grow up?
On January 20th an inquest into the death of Mr. Williams will convene. At that inquest Officer Birk will face the video, any witnesses to the shooting or physical evidence around it, and whatever other testimony is relevant. If evidence of a crime supports it he likely will be charged with whatever crime the county prosecutor thinks appropriate.
Releasing this video prior to that hearing is the worst kind of grandstanding. As much as Mr. Williams had the right to walk the streets, disheveled or not, Officer Birk has a right to an unbiased hearing.
All of the bigotry and hatred of the police would be amusing if it weren’t so disgusting. Officers are not heroes, just because they are in law enforcement. They are men and women doing a difficult job for decent but not spectacular pay. They see things you and I don’t want to or, because of them, have to see. And they are entitled to due process as surely as you and I are.
@99 you mean the same due process that John T. Williams received, right?