A team of federal prosecutors and FBI agents determined that there is insufficient evidence to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation against Birk.
Almost a year ago, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced that he would not file criminal charges against Birk because Washington state law protects police officers from prosecution when they act in good faith.
In January 2011, a non-binding inquest was split over whether Birk perceived a threat when he killed the woodcarver. Only one of the eight inquest jurors stated that Williams posed a threat to the officer who killed him. Birk voluntarily resigned from the Seattle Police Department shortly after the inquest findings were announced.
Birk shot and killed Jon T. Williams in Seattle on August 30, 2010. The altercation took place after the police officer saw Williams crossing Boren Avenue at Howell Street in broad daylight. The woodcarver was carrying a piece of wood and his carving knife. Birk has stated that he thought Williams was inebriated. The police officer parked his car. Approaching Williams, Birk ordered him to drop his knife three times before he shot him four times from a close distance.
Initial reports indicated that Williams advanced toward the police officer. Two witnesses testified during the inquest that this was not true. Both testified that Williams did not threaten or attack Birk before he was shot. Physical evidence also showed that Williams was shot in his side. Photos show that Williams' carving knife was in a closed position when he was shot.
During the inquest, the online edition of the Seattle Times featured a video recording taken from a camera attached to Birk's police car. The video did not the shooting, but showed Birk parking his car and walking toward Williams. Shortly thereafter, gun shots were heard.
I've watched the video half a dozen times. Based upon what I saw and heard in the video, I felt that Birk was the aggressor in the altercation. I also felt that Birk did not allow the woodcarver sufficient time to drop his knife. After all, Jon T. Williams was in his early fifties, was hard of hearing and had been drinking alcohol. All of these factors would have slowed his response. Williams deserved more than four seconds to death.
I understand that, at the time that Williams was killed, law enforcement was still stirred up because Mark Clemmons' murdered four Lakewood police officers on November 29, 2009. But there is no excuse for police brutality.
It's unfortunate that the Williams family cannot get justice for their slain brother. I've been a strong supporter of the Williams family and the First Nations tribe since I first read about this tragedy. If I could speak with those who work for the Justice Department, I would tell them that whether or not Jon T. Williams was an alcoholic should not matter. Whether Williams was homeless or poor should not matter. His skin color should not matter either. Jon T. Williams was a human being. Officer Birk did not have the right to murder him. This is Washington, not Texas. Washingtonians do not approve of law enforcement persecuting minority groups.
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