Slog AM: First Seattle Police Shooting This Year, Supreme Court Hears Idaho Abortion Case, Senate Passes TikTok Ban

Student walkout for Palestine: Students across the Puget Sound region walked out of class Tuesday to demand that the US stop aiding Israel and that Israel release Palestinian prisoners and cease its occupation of Gaza. Students at colleges and high schools in Seattle, Redmond, Olympia, Issaquah, Bellevue, and Highline planned walkouts, according to the Seattle Times. UW’s Seattle campus did not participate, but they supported high school demonstrations. 

Now to Ashley for a brief interlude…

The first police shooting of the year: The King County Medical Examiner’s Office has released the name of the suspect Seattle police killed last week in a sting operation related to an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force investigation. The man, 67-year-old Bruce Coval Meneley, has no history of arrest for prostitution or any other crimes related to the sexual abuse of children. Correction, 4/25 10:41 am: Meneley was charged in a prostitution sting in 2017 and was arrested in Texas for “similar” crimes before. We regret the error.] The Seattle Times identified Meneley as a former Navy doctor with an address in Hansville. Seattle Police Officers Adam Fowler and Nicholas French shot the man to death on April 17 at a hotel in Tukwila after he appeared to pull out a gun. Neither French nor Fowler have any sustained disciplinary history for using excessive force, though prior to this incident the Office of Police Accountability had opened two separate use-of-force investigations into each of the officers. Those investigations remain open.

Anddd back to me… 

🎵 I always feel like Seattle’s watching me (Oh, oh) 🎵 The Downtown Seattle Association said its plan to install 30 IKE Smart City-powered digital kiosks would raise $1 million dollars for downtown improvement initiatives at no cost to the city–at the potential expense of our collective privacy. While the DSA claimed that IKE did not collect or sell personally identifiable information, the company literally collects, stores and retains the right to distribute camera footage from its kiosks. While there could be some benefit to these devices, the wrong deal could give the company a lot of power over the personal data of passersby with little oversight. Hannah has more here.

The City could approve 30 digital kiosks downtown, but is this just another way to watch us? DSA barely touched on data security in their slideshow, IKE changes their privacy policies without notice, and we do not have robust laws to protect our privacy. https://t.co/fnJQ54aw4v

— Hannah Krieg (@hannahkrieg) April 23, 2024

Yakima officer died on the run in Oregon: Elias Huizar, a former school resource officer charged with killing his ex-wife and a teenage girl before fleeing with his one-year-old son, Roman Santos, shot himself after a police chase in Oregon yesterday. After the chase, officers found the young boy unharmed inside the vehicle. The Tri-City Herald reported that Huizar was facing charges for allegedly raping a friend of the teenage girl found dead in his home. The girl is the mother of the one-year-old, and prosecutors were investigating if their relationship began before she could legally consent.

More Boeing bullshit: The company’s white-collar union alleged that management retaliated against engineers who oversaw design work for the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA trusting the company’s own employees to regulate should raise red flags to begin with, and here’s a good example of why: In 2022, when Boeing was trying to integrate new electronic equipment into 777 and 787 aircraft, two engineers were resolute that the company should double-check past engineering work on the planes. The FAA agreed, but the men received negative performance reviews from the company, affecting possible raises and promotions in the future. One engineer quit and another is appealing the review with management. Boeing denies retaliation, but what good is their word anymore?

Nonprofit snafu: The former executive director of Recovery Cafe in Orting, a nonprofit that helps people faced with homelessness, addiction, and mental health challenges, allegedly stole $200,000 from her workplace. Court documents allege Rena Kay Thompson, who maintained accounting records for the organization, spent the money on a trip to Las Vegas and on tens of thousands in Amazon purchases, among other expenses. When an outside bookkeeper paid by the organization asked Thomspon about anomalies they’d found, including loans that had not been reported, Thompson went to the board and requested they fire the bookkeeper.

Supreme Court hearing arguments about Idaho abortion law: This morning, lawyers are arguing yet another abortion case before the court. The question (that shouldn’t be a question) is can a state prevent a pregnant person from receiving medically necessary treatment, including an abortion, if her body, but not her life, is in imminent danger? The lawyer for Idaho’s leading hospital system St. Lukes told NPR that certain complications can lead to the loss of reproductive organs and result in permanent disability. She argues that federal law tells doctors they can save that organ, but Idaho’s law ties their hands until the patient could die. State law says terminating a pregnancy is a felony otherwise. The result is patients being transferred out of state, which is especially tough in Idaho winters and can cause additional harm.

“TikTok ban” passes the Senate: In a move sure to win over people under 30 in an election year, the Senate passed legislation that will force the social media app’s Chinese parent company ByteDance to divest from the platform in nine months (after the election) or be banned in the US. The legislation was part of a $95 billion package that provides additional aid to Israel and Ukraine.

Workers win something! The US Federal Trade Commission voted to ban virtually all non-compete agreements, an increasingly common practice that prevents workers from starting their own businesses or joining their competitors. Business groups say noncompetes protect trade secrets, but worker advocates say it limits worker mobility and suppresses pay. Even low-paying industries like food service and retail are starting to issue noncompetes, which makes me want to scream. The FTC estimated last year that eliminating the rule would increase worker earnings by $300 billion and improve job opportunities for 30 million Americans. The US Chamber of Commerce sued the FTC this morning.

1. Today @FTC issued a final rule banning noncompetes for workers across the country.

The rule will ensure that Americans have the freedom to pursue a new job, start a new business, or bring a new idea to market.https://t.co/Ax9QQtHuvn

— Lina Khan (@linakhanFTC) April 23, 2024

Justice Department reaches Nassar settlement: The government will pay $138.7 million to 139 young women who claimed USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University sports physician Larry Nassar sexually abused them. The settlement is not a surprise, and it is the result of Federal Bureau of Investigation agents failing to investigate a mountain of credible claims against Nassar, who disguised his abuse as examinations and treatment. Nassar, who is serving a 60-year gederal sentence in Florida, was stabbed repeatedly by another inmate last summer and survived.

I Will Follow You Into The Dark, Mr. President: If Donald J. Trump is convicted at his criminal trial in Manhattan and sentenced to jail time for allegedly falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal, the US Secret Service will have to go with him. The New York Times reports that behind the scenes, officials are already working out how to move and protect Trump if the judge briefly ordered him to a holding cell for not shutting the fuck up violating his gag order. I don’t relish the thought of anyone in prison, but the unlikely scenario presents a fascinating logistical nightmare: Agents would have to keep Trump separate from other inmates, screen all food and personal items, and be kept on a 24-hour rotation, seven days a week. They’d be armed, even though guns are strictly prohibited in prisons. I wonder if they’d wear special jumpsuit-orange suits. Would they consider lockup for one on a deserted island instead? 

Speaking of the trial, Trump probably didn’t fart in court: I’m still seeing jokes about this, so I wanted to flag that Snopes couldn’t find any evidence of a sleeping Trump passing gas during jury selection last week. The claim first appeared in a video clip on Twitter from progressive media organization MeidasTouch.com, in which founder Ben Meiselas claimed credible sources reported the noxious smell. Then Kellyanne Conway’s ex-husband backed up the rumor on his account. Snopes found that any and all evidence for the claim could be traced back to the two original posters.

Some good news: To treat blindness, a handful of biotech companies are experimenting with optogenetics, a form of gene therapy that delivers light-sensitivity boosting proteins called opsins to the retina via injection. The therapy works by circumventing cells called photoreceptors, which convert light to electrical signals the brain can interpret and can die as the result of eye disease. One company called Science accomplishes this with the aid of an implant and a pair of frameless glasses containing miniature infrared cameras. Clinical trials for their technology begin sometime in the next 18 months. The Washington Post has more here.

Several companies are experimenting with optogenetics to create a “bionic eye” that can restore sight in visually impaired people. https://t.co/g14Q0tPkMi

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) April 24, 2024