Bob Kettle Breaks Down Bite of Seattle Shooting
Councilmember Bob Kettle, chair of Seattle's Public Safety Committee, joined The Gee and Ursula Show for one of the most substantive conversations we've had since the Bite of Seattle mass shooting — and he made a claim that reframes the entire conversation around former SPD Chief Shon Barnes.
Kettle says he believes the decision to fire Chief Barnes was made last fall — and only delayed until after the FIFA World Cup. He was part of the Barnes recruitment process, respected his background and reform-minded approach, and says the whispering voices around Mayor Katie Wilson's campaign shaped how she viewed Barnes long before the Bite of Seattle shooting ever happened.
Kettle also walks Gee and Ursula through his full timeline the night of the shooting, why Alert Seattle was never used even as thousands of people were caught in the chaos, and why the five-hour delay in informing the public still hasn't been fully explained. He responds directly to Mayor Wilson's claim that she has "a better window" into SPD than the council, defends Detective Brian Prichard after the sergeant's email revealing the stress he was under, and lays out what he's expecting from the September 22nd Public Safety Committee follow-up meeting.
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