We, the undersigned, call upon the Mayor-Elect Katie Wilson and the Seattle City Councilmembers Alexis Mercedes Rinck, Eddie Lin, and Rob Saka – who voted against the new SPOG contract due to lack of progress on key police accountability issues – to demand the SPD (1) identify all officers involved in the killings of Jack Palelei and Christian Nelson, and (2) to release the complete unedited body and dash camera footage of both incidents.
In the short time since the Department of Justice's consent decree was lifted (placed originally due to repeated uses of excessive force by the Seattle Police Department), SPD has already shot and killed two Seattle residents in crisis, in the latter case, wildly endangering many people by firing over 20 shots in the direction of a populated apartment building mid-day and injuring a bystander. Across both of these cases, only one officer has since been identified. That is not enough and all officers should be held accountable. In both instances, SPD released body and/or dash cam footage that was cut and edited - some portions slowed down and emphasized – in order to manipulate the circumstances in their favor and paint the victims as violent instigators and not people suffering through a mental health crisis. We urge our local officials to stand with us and put pressure on SPD: We must demand that the new Seattle mayor-elect Katie Wilson and Seattle City Council hold SPD to a higher standard of accountability and transparency.