Seattle activist: Mayor Durkan’s response to fight proves she’s ‘unprepared’

A community activist who lost his bid for Seattle mayor argues Mayor Jenny Durkan is already faring poorly.

Harley Lever — who is behind the watchdog group Safe Seattle — points to a recent fight in Seattle’s SoDo neighborhood as proof.

A man and woman were caught on security cameras in the midst of a fight. The video shows the man choking the woman, and the woman drawing a gun on him. The man wrestles the gun away from the woman and fires two shots — one into a nearby building and another into the air.

According to Lever and KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson, when Durkan was asked about the incident by members of the media and the community, all they got was “no comment.”

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“It was both baffling and infuriating,” Lever told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson. “When you watch the video and you see that lady get choked out by her supposed boyfriend. It’s just shocking.”

“Jenny Durkan and I ran for mayor on these issues,” he said. “We’re supposed to have robust plans in place, a transition team to address these issues. This is one of the three top issues and ‘no comment’ is completely unacceptable. She should have had a plan in place. Especially in the context of the #MeToo movement. We have women speaking up about sexual violence. And you have a woman being choked on video. ‘No comment’ is unacceptable. I think it shows the mayor is unprepared to deal with these issues.”

Hear Dori’s full conversation with Lever here.