Crowd honors Charleena Lyles, demands answers from Seattle leaders

Hundreds of people packed into Kane Hall at the University of Washington on Tuesday night to honor Charleena Lyles, the woman who was shot and killed in her kitchen on Father’s Day.

Two Seattle police officers, Steven McNew and Jason Anderson, arrived at her apartment after a burglary call on June 18. They spent about three minutes speaking with Lyles, a pregnant mother, who they say armed herself with two kitchen knives. The officers demanded she back away and eventually shot her in front of her children.

RELATED: Police release interview transcripts of officers involved in Charleena Lyles case

Among many angry or hurt Seattleites, Lyles’ father, grandfather, and neighbor spoke before Seattle council members.

“She was a mother first. She loved her children,” Lyles’ downstairs neighbor said.

“Can we get a tangible commitment from our leaders in the city to make sure these police officers stop criminalizing and stop dehumanizing our children and other people living in marginalized communities so that we can work together…?”

She said that if those two officers were carrying Tasers that morning, she would be yelling at Lyles’ kids to stay away from her car. Instead, four children do not have their mother.

At one point, someone in the crowd asked city council members put their phones away and pay attention. Later, it was pointed out three phones remained on the table.

“I didn’t hear any attempts to de-escalate the situation,” one woman told the crowd.

Another woman in the crowd, who said she is affected by mental illness, said she’s worried about what might happen to her if she calls the police for help.

“Do we make that call or don’t we make that call? That’s what we’re left with,” another woman later asked.

Though he isn’t involved in the investigation, the president of the Seattle Police Guild previously suggested the fatal shooting was suicide by cop. Kevin Stuckey told KIRO Radio’s Jason and Burns that critics who say the officers should have used Tasers are wrong.

But Lyles’ father, Charles, who was the first to speak Tuesday night, shut down the suggestion that it was suicide by cop.

“My daughter loved life. There’s no way she would have called the police over to kill her, especially in front of her kids. So we need to dismiss that,” Charles said.

Most of the Lyles family did not attend in protest of police Chief Kathleen O’Toole not taking part in the event.

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