March protests safety conditions after downtown Seattle shooting

After a pregnant woman was killed in what appears to have been a random shooting in downtown Seattle, a woman organized a march to prevent more tragedies throughout the city.

Susanna Keilman, a former U.S. Air Force Medic, went on The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH to talk about why she was motivated to organize a march in order to unite for safety and push for change in how crime is handled in western Washington.

Pregnant woman, unborn child, die in Belltown shooting

The March to Take Back the City took place Saturday at 4th Avenue and Lenora Street. It started with a moment of silence for the victim and proceeded with a march to her restaurant near Pike Place Market.

Safety isn’t political. Eina Kwon and her unborn child deserved better. Everyone who loves Seattle deserves better. #Unite4Safety pic.twitter.com/JT7nJT5g37

— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) June 17, 2023

On Tuesday morning, a man approached Eina Kwon, 34, and her husband Sung Kwon, 37, in their car, fired at the driver’s side with a handgun, and ran away, the probable cause statement said. Video from the neighborhood showed no previous interaction with the victims.

Police said they found a 30-year-old man who matched witnesses’ description soon after, and he raised his arms and said, “I did it, I did it,” according to police.

The man was taken into custody, and a judge found probable cause to hold him on investigation of homicide, assault, and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Keilman said she thinks this attack has to do with Kwon being an Asian-American woman and that, as an Asian-American woman herself, see wants to empower and unite the community.

“The Korean community and much of the AAPI has been discouraged from the whole cancel culture movement, and as a result, have been really scared and afraid to speak up against crime,” Keilman said. “…Well, you certainly can’t ignore the fact that she was a Korean-American female. When someone is intentionally injured in specific areas, there’s nothing random about that. So it’s very discouraging when you hear these words that are trying to almost soften the type of crime by saying it was random.”

Keilman said that the march’s goal is to bring attention to the failure of policymakers to create laws that will protect people from these types of crimes, including the city’s failure to pass a drug ordinance.

“First of all, crime has to be illegal. You can see the open drugs everywhere in Washington state. You can see what happens when police departments are underfunded and understaffed,” Keilman said. “It’s insanity. Unfortunately, it’s taken two innocent lives for people to wake up. I hope this is the wake-up that our government needs to make change.”

Keilman is a former Republican candidate for State Representative for District 28, which includes her hometown of DuPont, where she also ran for City Council.