The murder of John T Williams by Seattle PD (dash cam vid)

[82_28]

A judge yesterday ruled that dash cam footage of this murder be released. I'll let you follow the link rather than post the video here. You won't actually see the "action", but you will see homeless Native American woodcarver cross in front of cop car and then get killed in cold blood by a SPD officer on a busy summer afternoon all within 15 seconds. Astonishing. Gotta love that sports radio too.

Further background links at link for those who aren't from here. This is chilling stuff.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archiv ... t-williams

Fuck it. I will embed the video here. Just be warned. Repeat -- you will not see the shooting, but it is gut wrenching and may make you see red. Read link above for background on this story though.

[Nordic]

Jesus fucking christ. Maniac cop. Was that cop schizophrenic or something? How could he have possibly seen that guy as a threat to anybody?

[eyeno]

Big hero saved the community. (sic) That poor Indian dude didn't even have time to think "huh"? I hope they lock that punk up for the rest of his sorry ass life and I hope he gets in a cell with the meanest son of a bitch in the whole prison. Wonder if the judge released it as cover for the officer or to help convict him? "oh but it was just an indian who cares?" Fuck his ass.

[elfismiles]

Hey eyeno, as much as I might empathize with the emotional urge to suggest the same thing as you, I do strongly disagree with the sentiment expressed of "wishing" to see other humans tortured / raped in prison-jail custody.

Anyway, folks might enjoy this great new anti-police-state-podcast service:

"Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun"


www.CopBlock.org
http://copblock.podomatic.com

[Perelandra]

I had intended to post a link to this story back when it happened, but didn't. The video truly adds a fresh layer of grief to the incident.

The ACLU is calling on the Department of Justice to investigate the fatal shooting of Native American woodcarver John T. Williams and other officer-involved uses of force, particularly against people of color, that have occurred over the past 18 months.

The organization cites a June 14 jaywalking incident captured on video by a bystander in which a police officer was shown punching an African-American teenage girl after a jaywalking stop, as well as the April 17 incident captured on video in which an officer was shown kicking a handcuffed man lying face-down on the ground and threatening to kick the “Mexican piss” out of him during a crime scene investigation. The man was later released from the scene.

Seattle Councilmember Tim Burgess, chair of the City Council’s Public Safety and Education Committee, endorsed the ACLU’s request.

“Our police officers should embrace this type of outside scrutiny and accountability that affirms their work and holds them to the high standards they set for themselves,” Burgess said in a statement.

http://www.realchangenews.org/index.php/site/archives/5018/

[Twyla LaSarc]

Thanks 82-28. This story is horrifying on many levels.

[Project Willow]

That's just murder. Period.




Yeah, psychopathic cop.

[Simulist]

WTF?!? "You did the right thing. Hang in there Ian."

No, Ian you didn't do the right thing. In fact you're a fucking murderer.

[Iamwhomiam]

I'm unable to view the video, but I did hear what sounds the camera recorded. the woodcarver was partially deaf and the officer shot him within 7 seconds of first being ordered to drop his weapon. He posed no threat, especially because the knife he was carrying was not large enough to legally be considered a dangerous weapon.

Very sad.

[82_28]

That motherfucker better be headed to prison. I've been monitoring the mainstream comment boards and it really is 90% for murder in cold blood and 10% racist fucks. I've been at work all night. Has this even made national news at all? This should be motherfucking top story nationwide. There is no reason TIME's fucking person of the fucking year or even Julian Assange should even eclipse this whatsoever. This probably happens far more than any of us realize. But, John T Williams was an "Indian". I recognized the dude as soon as this story broke. You always saw him around town. Walking past that guy even with an open knife and a piece of wood would not have scared me one bit as a simple citizen of this city. Note how no other pedestrians were alarmed in the least.

I haven't seen this shit even argued yet. But the fucking murderer could have easily disabled him just by approaching him. Words do not describe the evil of this Ian Birk.

Had Mr. Williams had a home of his own, he would have been there carving his wood as opposed to broken and doing the only thing he was good at and enjoyed doing on the street because of this goddamn occluded and racist police state. He had numerous shops around town which sold his carvings.

Now, let me go into something a little more "RI" here. Don't blame me, I just do what I do and I promise I have a kind heart. We will only know the veracity of this little theory of mine once we find out what kind of conviction and sentencing Birk gets (why isn't he in King County jail right now???). But Seattle PD has had numerous black eyes in the past year or so, all involving race and violent attacks caught on camera. Birk could in fact be a fall guy for the entire department and the governance of the City of Seattle. This is not in any way insinuating that I am even close to making light of this obvious murder. What if, however, Mr. Williams was "targeted"? I am not saying Birk, at that moment, knew where he was and was thus hunting Mr. Williams down. But like I said above, I recognized Williams, because everybody that traverses that area sees the same characters over and over -- there's probably maybe 25-50 of the most recognizable ones, maybe less -- NO COP THAT PATROLS THAT PRECINCT WOULD EVEN THINK JOHN T WILLIAMS POSED ANY KIND OF THREAT! They would have to see him far, far, far more often than I ever did, as they patrol the area. I merely pass through. Could it be that there was some order to kill one of them or to have a "quick trigger finger no matter what", in order to take focus off the current debacles and show that the city, the PD could publicly do the "right thing"? Kill one of the homeless Native Americans, who only powerless people would miss -- no love lost, eh? Win/Win! The Native American population here, sad to say, are drunk and homeless. Were this a young African American man and this EXACT same thing happened VIA COPCAM, there would be riots! Kill another "minority" which is completely defenseless with little to no repercussions (i.e. Native American). HOWEVER, the "black eyes" I referred to were captured by citizens in the vicinity -- NOT the release of a cop cam video which was mandated by a court. Now, this is even before Birk has even gone to trial! Will he even get an "impartial jury" now? No way. It could now all be thrown out upon technicalities!

Could be! Those cops that patrol east precinct know all of the personalities and potentialities of all the people they see continually on a probably more than daily basis.

You did the right thing, Ian.

Perhaps you did, Ian. Perhaps you did do the "right thing".

[82_28]

On the most recent page of the hundreds of comments posted at the Seattle Times, I find that my theory may be a little more common than thought. Good.

December 18, 2010 at 12:37 AM
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When watching the video, you can see within 60 seconds police backup arrive. Even two bicycle police. Within 90 seconds over half a dozen police arrive.

Why did birk not call for backup??!! It obviously appears it would have been no issue to get backup.

IAN BIRK IS A MURDERER!!!

This is so sad....

And this fudo cop saying at 9 feet you can be stabbed before you can get a shot off --- right, maybe if you are up against a ninja, or bruce lee. Not an inebriated, harmless native american.

Birk already knew who this guy was. He knew what he was about. Obviously, John T. Williams was on the hit list of the SPD and Ian Birk was the hit man!!!

Ian Birk will go down for this crime against an innocent man.

jason_r
Seattle
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December 18, 2010 at 12:07 AM
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Murder1
Who is next, a jaywalker? The police are to protect and serve, not kill people they don't like or upset them or whatever, This man was part of the culture of Seattle and it is a sad day that some ill trained psycho in a cop uniform gunned him down. Who is next???

[82_28]

Another:

This was an assassination - pure and simple.

HEADLINE SHOULD READ: white male cop who thinks he is in charge of the world wipes Indian carver off the map in Seattle.

This cop should be in jail and his fellow cops should be outraged to have any association with what he did and what his actions stand for.

The day after this event, the police union representative, without any facts available to support what he said, claimed that the Indian man had advanced toward the officer with a knife. This was found to be completely untrue and so I have to ask the police force - why do you lie for each other? I am ashamed of the Seattle Police force. Who is in charge of this police culture that SUPPORTS indiscriminate killing?

QUESTION: Are Seattle Police allowed to listen to radio entertainment while on the job? In my opinion any police officer who listens to sports radio or any other radio other than their police communication systems while working should be fired on the spot.

I also have to wonder if the loud entertainment radio is a tactic that the police force use to attempt to cover up the audio on their video systems.

Good. People are getting it.

I also have to wonder if the loud entertainment radio is a tactic that the police force use to attempt to cover up the audio on their video systems.

Hmmm. Great question! I may in fact try to figure out what the sports talk show was talking about and see if it lines up with the date of the murder. And or/this could be a case of him blasting his radio just in time to assassinate Williams. It could have been some kind of a hit. Hmmm. Very curious.

[82_28]

No corroboration, but I found this buried in the Seattle Times comment thread:

Fun fact:

Ian Birk purchased a home a mere 20 days AFTER he shot John T. Willams, while on "paid administrative duty." Is that the action of a man who has any fear of losing his job? Does he know something that we do not?

Hmm hmm hmm. . .

Posted by "Hidden Hand" with a grand total of ONE comment ever made to the Seattle Times and that was the one. People out there know a lot more than we do yet and they are coming out of the woodwork.

[KudZu LoTek]

This probably happens far more than any of us realize.

That turns out to be quite an understatement. I did a quick search to look up some details from the David John Walker case back in 2000 and so many other similarly disgusting cases were listed I had to stop. The nausea has receded a bit but I'm still kinda numb from the shock. Seattle PD has a rich history of disappearing undesirables.

But Seattle PD has had numerous black eyes in the past year or so, all involving race and violent attacks caught on camera. Birk could in fact be a fall guy for the entire department and the governance of the City of Seattle. This is not in any way insinuating that I am even close to making light of this obvious murder. What if, however, Mr. Williams was "targeted"? I am not saying Birk, at that moment, knew where he was and was thus hunting Mr. Williams down.

At this point I don't know if I could say that the killing was institutionally sponsored, but institutionally condoned? Certainly. There's no doubt in my mind that Birk's superiors and fellow officers were giving him high fives when he got back to the station, and would be happy to sweep this under the rug if possible. As to the matter of Birk stalking Williams, now that is something that seems entirely too plausible. Perhaps he resented the temerity of some "dirty injun" soiling his clean white streets or standing too close to him at a crosswalk previously. The speed with which he was out of the car, out of camera range, and closing in on Williams speaks of premeditated action.

I just replayed the clip several times, it's hard to tell with the video resolution, but it looks like Birk had his weapon in hand as soon as he exited the car (starts at about 1:01). Seriously, what the fuck is that in his hand? AFAIK that is not SOP for any sort of police encounter like this. If there are any video tech wizards out there that can confirm or disprove that it would be a great help.

82, just to be clear, I am not in any way dismissing your view of the situation. This is just the opinion of another individual who is also saddened and sickened by this horrifying incident. In a perfect world we would both be wrong.

[82_28]

Yes. Just saw the footage on my 36" 1080p TV. Though they did not mention it at all, Birk's gun WAS DRAWN and he was holding it like I would a marijuana pipe back in the day in front of the camera -- kinda like he knew the camera would capture it. Then SEVEN seconds pass and then five lethal shots. This is pure murder one. Completely psychopathic and premeditated.

I don't believe in the death penalty. But Birk deserves nothing less.