Seattle police display fake tombstone for Black man they killed: Body cam footage from January 2021 shows officers at the East Precinct decorated a break room with a fake tombstone for 19-year-old Damarius Butts, a man SPD officers shot in 2017. The footage also shows a large “Trump 2020” flag hanging in the room, possibly in violation of state law and department policy that limits on-duty police’s involvement in politics.

The Seattle Police Department told the Seattle Times that, gee, it doesn’t know how the tombstone got there, but don’t think officers placed it as a “trophy, or with any pejorative intent.” The department instead suggested that protesters may have placed the tombstone outside the precinct and officers kept it on the shelf before disposing of it, you know, like you do before throwing something away. Officers also kept a sign in the room reading "Stop Killing Us."

Councilmember Lisa Herbold's office told The Stranger she's contacted Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission and the Office of Police Accountability to see if complaints have been filed or will be initiated by the oversight bodies. The Seattle Community Police Commission said in a statement that department's explanation did not match what they saw on video and expect Chief Adrian Diaz to "promptly attend a public CPC meeting to answer questions regarding this video, and the culture at SPD that allowed this display."

Lawyers obtained the video as part of a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the city’s graffiti laws, as the officers were heading outside to arrest protesters writing on the precinct’s wall with charcoal and chalk. Seattle police killed Butts during a chase after he robbed a convenience store in 2017, shooting him 11 times in a loading dock at the Federal building on Western Ave, waiting outside as Butts bled to death. The exchange of bullets during the pursuit injured three officers. Last year, an inquest jury found the shooting justified.

Washington legal advocates sue Idaho over abortion law: The Seattle-based Legal Voice sued over Idaho’s abortion travel ban, a new law that made it a crime to help minors get an abortion in states where it is legal without parental approval. Legal Voice filed the suit on behalf of an Idaho attorney, the Northwest Abortion Access Fund, and the Indigenous Idaho Alliance. They argue the vague law violates a First Amendment right to discuss abortion with children and a Fourth Amendment right to travel between states without Idaho’s meddling, according to the AP. 

Nick Brown is running for Attorney General: This morning, Brown launched his campaign to replace current AG Bob Ferguson, who is running for governor. If elected, Brown would be Washington’s first Black AG (and the first “Survivor” contestant in the job). Until recently, Brown served as the first Black US attorney for Washington. He’s opposed to decriminalizing drugs, unlike his opponent, State Sen. Manka Dhingra (D-Redmond), and he's into a misdemeanor drug law. Read more from Ashley here.

About last night: The National League beat the American League in the MLB All-Star game at T-Mobile Park. Before the game, former Mariners took the field. Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez threw out ceremonial first pitches to Dan Wilson, Jay Buhner, and Baltimore Oriole legend Cal Ripken Jr. More than 47,000 people attended the game.

Stop the Sweeps protesters made a little appearance: 

About last night, Part II: District 3 city council candidate Andrew Ashiofu won Candidate Survivor. Neumos was buzzing. The surprises delighted. The sauce was hot and the answers were spicy. Hannah will have a full report later today once she wakes up. Thank you all for coming out!!!

Shipwreck off Greek coast likely the government’s fault: An investigation from the Guardian, German public broadcasting, and local journalists found the fishing trawler carrying hundreds of migrants from Libya to Italy likely sank because Greece’s coastguard tried to tow it multiple times. They also discovered that the coastguard failed to respond to the ship three times, instead of twice as previously believed. 

Researchers and reporters mapped the final hours before the boat capsized using coastguard data and interviews from 20 of the surviving 104 migrants. Their testimony contradicts the official narrative. Five hundred people presumably drowned.

Jonah Hill accused of preying on Zoey 101 actress when she was a teen: The former child star Alexa Nikolas tweeted that Hill forced himself on her at a 2008 party at actor Justin Long’s house when he was 24 and she was just 16. Nikolas said the adult actors knew she and her friends were underage and they were “all pretty wasted because of course the predators kept feeding us alcohol.”

Over the weekend, Hill’s ex-girlfriend, professional surfer Sarah Brady, accused him of emotional abuse and shared icky, private text messages where he attempted to control her with therapy speak. 

More Microsoft cuts: The company laid off 276 workers in Washington–210 from its Redmond and Bellevue offices and 66 remote employees. All worked in customer service, support, and sales. This new round of cuts comes on top of the 10,000 layoffs announced in January. Microsoft’s fiscal year ended June 30 and Geekwire reports it’s not uncommon for the company to reorganize parts of its business as it starts a new one. Speaking of Microsoft


MONOPOLY!!! A federal judge ruled in favor of Microsoft’s eyebrow-raising acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the massive third-party video game developer behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft. Microsoft isn’t too broke, because it’s spending more than $68 billion on the deal (sorry, 276 workers). Regulators at the Federal Trade Commission opposed the deal because they believe Microsoft would gain anticompetitive power over rivals Sony and Nintendo. The FTC has until July 14th to appeal the decision. 

Salmonella alert: Public Health — Seattle & King County is investigating a salmonella outbreak that put two people in the hospital and sickened four others between mid-April and early June. Health officials say no case came from the same household, but they believe they’re all linked in some way. Tainted meat, specifically pork, is a likely culprit.

C-O-U-C-H
C-T: A jury in Pontiac, Michigan ruled that instructions Aretha Franklin scrawled into a spiral notebook that detailed the division of her estate legally represent her last will and testament. After her death in 2018, her family found two competing wills in her home: A detailed handwritten document from 2010 with her signature on every page and the unsigned notebook, written four years later. Her sons argued over which counted as their mother’s true intent. The six-person jury ended their debate after deliberating for less than an hour.

Alabama Senator admits white nationalists are racists: During a Monday interview on CNN, host Kaitlan Collins asked Sen. Tommy Tuberville (should’ve been Potatotown) to clarify April remarks where he appeared to OK white nationalists serving in the military. But he wouldn’t say white nationalists–who are famously racist–are racists. On Tuesday he kind of took it back but not really, saying that white nationalists, whose primary goal is to create a white ethnostate through violence, are indeed racist. Earlier, he insisted it's a matter of opinion and that white nationalists hold “a few probably different beliefs.” Yeah, racist ones.

Charles Manson family member paroled: Leslie Van Houten, 73, a Manson cult member convicted of two murders, walked free yesterday. She spent five decades in prison for her role in the infamous 1969 California murder spree that left nine people dead, including actress Sharon Tate. In May, an appeals court ruled that Van Houten was eligible for parole, reversing Governor Gavin Newsom’s decision to block her release. Gov. Newsom said Friday he wouldn’t challenge the decision at the state Supreme Court. 

Linda Kasabian, another member of the Manson family cult who waited outside Tate’s home during the murders, died in a Tacoma hospital earlier this year. She lived there under the name Linda Chiochios.

South Hill teen charged for attempted rape of Uber food delivery driver: Prosecutors say the 17-year-old allegedly grabbed the 38-year-old woman in an attempt to pull her into his home as she bent over to pick up a $20 tip he’d left on the porch. The woman escaped, but allegedly saw the teen masturbating with a grin on his face as she drove away. The teen pled not guilty to first-degree attempted rape and first-degree attempted kidnapping.