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Vol. 75/No. 6      February 14, 2011

 
Seattle jury: Cop who shot
man was not threatened
 
BY CECELIA MORIARITY  
SEATTLE—An eight-member inquest jury delivered its decision January 20 in the case of Seattle cop Ian Birk, who fatally shot John Williams last August 30. Four inquest jurors concluded Birk was not facing an “imminent threat” when he jumped out of his squad car and fired at Williams. Three jurors said the answer was unknown. Only one juror agreed Birk was in danger.

Williams, 50, was a member of the Ditidaht Tribe, part of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth First Nations in British Columbia and well known locally as a wood-carver. Police initially claimed Birk saw Williams with a knife, ordered him to drop it, and then fired when Williams turned and moved toward him. Witnesses said Williams, who had a hearing loss, likely never heard the cop and never posed a threat.

The four jurors also concluded Williams did not have enough time to respond to Birk’s command to put down his small carving knife. Birk opened fire with his semiautomatic four seconds later. An autopsy report noted all four bullets hit Williams in his right side, indicating he was not facing Birk when shot. After the shooting, Williams’s knife was found, folded closed.

Protesters against the shooting demonstrated outside the King County courthouse January 10, the morning before the inquest, again at the noon break, and at the end of testimony that day.

The Seattle Times reported Fern Renville, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of South Dakota and one of the many supporters of Williams’s family at the inquest, said she was shocked by video of backup officers who handcuffed Williams after the shooting “instead of offering medical aid.”

An earlier Seattle police department review found the shooting to be unjustified, but the King County prosecuting attorney’s office called for the fact-finding inquest before deciding whether to file criminal charges against the cop.

The King County District Court judge overseeing the inquest would not allow the department’s findings to be admitted as evidence.

After the inquest, Williams’s family members delivered a letter and petition asking the county prosecutor to file murder charges against Birk. Prosecutors are expected to make a decision on this in about a month.
 
 
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