Quote · Up First from NPR
How an anti-police violence protest ended in a teen’s death
Where this was said
Police Silence: No Contact Since 2020
At 16:16 · chapter starts 15:40
When Brownstone asks Antonio Sr. when he last heard from Seattle Police about his son's case, the answer is stark: 2020. After that, phones went silent. He was told by different people that the case had been reassigned, then that it had been closed. He never got a definitive answer and eventually couldn't reach anyone. Reporters James and Brownstone say they were taken by surprise: Seattle Police had told them the investigation was still open and active. Yet the victim's father — who should be the most closely informed person in any murder case — had been left completely in the dark. After the interview, reporters reached out to Seattle Police for comment on when they had last contacted Antonio Sr.; the department declined, citing the open investigation. For Antonio Sr., the silence is the clearest signal he has received about whether justice is coming.
After George Floyd's murder, thousands flooded Seattle's streets. Police deployed crowd control weapons, a standoff formed outside a precinct — and then police simply walked away, abandoning it. The 8-block autonomous zone that rose up in their wake had its own medical teams, its own art, and its own armed security.
