Stuck the landing: A bow hunter hiking above Lake Serene in Snohomish County fell off a cliff. He plummeted 100 feet, hitting rocks along the way before he plunged into the frigid lake. He pulled himself from the lake and activated a personal locator beacon to call for help at around 10 p.m. He sustained serious injuries. A search and rescue team flew him to Harborview Medical Center at around 1:45 am. 

Deadly Bellevue police shooting: On Monday morning, Bellevue police responded to an emergency call at a house for “report of a harassment with a knife.” The call ended with one officer involved in a shooting, killing a 67-year-old man. As the Seattle Times reports, "an initial police news release did not clarify what kind of threat the man posed."

Alleged killer found: Police arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald's on Monday after a customer recognized him. Perhaps the customer recognized Mangione's distinct, enviably-full brows. Anyway, when the cops scooped up Mangione, they found a 3D printed gun and silencer on him, as well as a 262-word manifesto railing against the health insurance and appearing to take credit for the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming," the manifesto reads. Mangione was charged with second-degree murder in Manhattan. 

 

 

What we know about Luigi: Mangione is a software engineer who grew up in an affluent family in Maryland. He was the valedictorian at the expensive, private Gilman School, and received both a bachelor's and a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania. The internet quickly discovered Mangione's social profiles. Sleuths scoured what appeared to be his Goodreads account, and found he had a taste for Kurt Vonnegut as well as Ayn Rand, the Unabomber's memoir, and health-hacking podcaster Andrew Huberman. On his Spotify, Mangione was allegedly bumping Charli xcx's "Brat." According to accounts from acquaintances and context clues from Mangione's Twitter banner featuring an x-ray of surgical pins, Mangione suffered from back pain. In the last six months, Mangione stopped contacting friends and family. His family reported him missing in November.  

To put this into context, we’ve got a note from Marcus Harrison Green:

A tale of two justice systems: On the one hand, it can swiftly track down the alleged shooter of a millionaire CEO who profited from denying healthcare coverage to millions— and was facing a lawsuit for alleged insider trading at the time of his death. On the other, it’s incapable of holding Daniel Perry in any way accountable for the avoidable death of Jordan Nelly, a beloved street performer who struggled with homelessness. In 2023, Nelly, experiencing a mental health crisis on a New York City subway car was yelling and crying out for help when Perry put him in a chokehold. After several minutes of struggle, Perry released Nelly, who was unresponsive and later pronounced dead. Nelly had not attacked nor harmed any of the passengers before Perry took it upon himself to turn vigilante and strangle him. On Monday, a New York City jury acquitted Perry, a former marine, of criminally negligent homicide in the case. A judge had previously dismissed the more serious charge of second-degree manslaughter last week, meaning Perry will walk away Scot-free.

In case you’re wondering, Washington State has barred chokeholds for cops and wannabe cops alike. So, please for the love of god, if you ever encounter a similar situation, DO NOT INTERVENE. Instead, have some grace, get off the light rail, walk away, and get on with your life. Jordan Neely will never be able to do that. 

Exposed at Expedia: Employees at Expedia filed a class action lawsuit against the security company at the company's Seattle headquarters for its not expeditious response to reports of cameras in a gender-neutral bathroom. Last December, employees noticed what looked like cameras attached to the underside of a bathroom sink. They reported it to the security company, Securitas, which didn't take any action to remove the cameras until mid-January 2024. More than 60 victims were identified in the voyeurism case against Expedia worker  Marcelo Vargas-Fernandez, who was charged back in February. 

Hold on a sec, Ashley's on the line. She's got some city council news. 

Blasting balls: Today, the City Council’s Public Safety Committee is set to hold the first of three meetings on whether to pass Mayor Bruce Harrell’s proposed repeal of a ban on using blast balls to break up protests. As I wrote in October, the ban never actually went into effect, and it came as a result of the Seattle Police Department’s wholly irresponsible use of the weapons during the 2020 protests, when they caused serious injury to protestors, including stopping one woman’s heart. The cops' violence during the protests forced the City to pay out a $10 million settlement to the people they harmed. As we all prepare for the realities of a Trump presidency and the possibility of more mass public outcry in response to his policies, the Mayor seems intent on making it easier for SPD to violently repress political speech and mass demonstrations. 

The City Council has a hearing on this today, the next one is scheduled for January 14, and a final vote potentially on January 21. Here’s the agenda for today’s meeting with information about how to submit public comments. 

For a reminder of how the cops escalated those protests, here’s a good video from DivestSPD of cops pelting a fleeing crowd with blast balls. 

 

Okay, back to me!

Good news for everyone satisfied with how the city's been functioning for the last four years: Mayor Bruce Harrell officially announced his re-election campaign. Will he become Seattle's first two-term mayor in the last 15 years? I guess we'll have to wait and see. The people chose Harrell, a moderate, back in 2021. After the hell that has been a moderate mayor and a moderate city council and with an incoming fascist regime Donald Trump presidency, maybe the people of Seattle are ready to try progressivism again. 

I want to go to the Moby Dick marathon: Every year during grey whale migration season, on Los Angeles' Venice beach, people gather to spend two days reading Herman Melville's Moby Dick aloud. The tradition has been going on for 29 years. 

Malibu on fire: A wildfire exploded in Malibu late Monday. Fueled by Santa Ana winds, the fire gobbled up over 1,800 acres in just a matter of hours. Around 6,000 residents received evacuation orders. Students at nearby Pepperdine University are sheltering in place. 

 

 

Succession: Media mogul Rupert Murdoch tried to change the trust he set up for his children to make it so his oldest and favorite child, Lachlan, had complete control over his empire. Instead, a court ruled against Murdoch's attempt to tweak the trust, finding he and Lachlan acted "in bad faith." Bad news for best boy, Lachlan: All four of Murdoch's kids will split control equally, as the trust originally outlined. 

RIP Nikki Giovanni: Poet, activist, author, and professor Nikki Giovanni, who was prolific in the Black Arts Movement during the Civil Rights era, died on Monday. She was 81. Giovanni was known for her work celebrating Black joy.