The Seattle cop that shot the wood carver...
 

Will NOT be prosecuted!

King County prosecutors will not pursue criminal charges against a Seattle police officer who shot and killed a homeless woodcarver in August, Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said Wednesday morning.

Announcing his decision on the controversial shooting, Satterberg said the evidence gathered does not support state charges against Officer Ian Birk in the slaying of John T. Williams.

Calling the shooting "troubling," Satterberg said that the "obvious and legally available defenses" -- chiefly that there is no evidence indicating Birk acted with malice toward Williams, as required by state law -- would leave a jury with only one decision if asked to convict Birk.

"A jury would be compelled to find Officer Birk not guilty," Satterberg said.

"There is no evidence to show malice," the elected prosecutor continued. "There's no evidence to refute Officer Birk's claim that he acted in good faith."

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/43558...tml?source=rss

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?! That's such bullshit. I've given up on America's judicial system.

WTF... No warning shot... in fact he only waited like 10s, maybe, before he opened fire...

he wasn't in any danger at all... fucking BS

I'm tired of cops being, above the law...

We need a privatized police force that can be held accountable for their actions... If the community isn't happy with the service... they hire a better police force...

Didn't see anything ... I did hear the cop shout drop-the-knife a few times. I'll guess that he didn't drop the knife .....


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rise up warrior indians your ancestors are watching.

Worst cop ever in my opinion.

The victim was deaf in his left ear and when taken to the coroners office there was a radio and earbuds in his possession. The autopsy also revealed that John Williams was shot in his right side so for him to be coming at the officer, as the officer said, is BS!

this cop DOES need to fry, simple as that.

but, privatized police force?!

did you SEE robocop?

great going to seattle is now doubly dangerous

nah couldnt be, the world is a nice place where cops and judges only exist to protect us and force the law upon criminals!

I was commenting on the posted video.


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I counted 5 shots - seems like he just needed to let some frustration out...

Of course not he's a cop they always get away with shit like this. Do you honestly think he would have done time?

what if the guy shot was white?

Bad cop! No donut!

Can only hope something terrible happens to the cops family. Then he will have to live with that pain and sooner or later, turn the gun on himself.

This was murder in cold blood anyway you want to try to spin it.

You watch far too much TV. A warning shot? :1orglaugh:1orglaugh

Where would that be aimed at?

he wouldn't have got off.

Murderer..........What was the intention? Why even approach a homeless guy walking peacefully along? A ticket for the knife? :disgust

In the original video you can hear a lady ask why the had to shoot. Unfortunatly without seeing the exact footage its hard to tell.

According to this clip, it was not his first run in with the law, and he seemed to have been getting angrier and angrier.

I heard he plans on bagging a cake decorator next

The Seattle PD has ruled the shooting unjustified. He's done as a cop and the city has pretty much said it's liable.

It looks like there is too little evidence. It seems like there is no one to avenge the woodcarver (if shooting really happened). The woodcarver was homeless. It seems nobody cared about the woodcarver. Homeless men die on the streets. Homeless people should not be shot to death.

too busy huffing gasoline to rise up

The carver was suprised by the gun and his mentally fight/flight switch went the wrong way for a sec. I bet he turned and pointed the knife at the gung ho prick.

He was obviously mentally ill by his demeanor. Cops see this daily and are numb.

So fucking sad.

I love Armchair Quarterbacks.

The crime of Murder requires intent. You must prove this component to get a conviction. That's the way the law works boys and girls.

its up to the people that live there to demand justice. :2 cents: the government has too much power.

The D.A. has to make a decision based upon the evidence and the law. If a D.A. determines that based upon the evidence and the law he would not be able to win the case it is his duty to the office that he holds...not to prosecute and waste tax payer's funds.

The Chief of Police apparently has stated that the shooting violates police policy/procedure so I would assume that he will be fired...if he has not already been fired...and with this in his jacket it will be unlikely that he will be hired by another town as a police officer.

As for a warning shot...police are not trained to fire warning shots...and most are trained to fire a minimum of three rounds...and some are trained to fire and keep firing until the perp goes down.

The problem with the prosecutor's justification for not bringing charges (i.e., the "no malice" excuse) is you don't need to show malice for a manslaughter charge. If you kill someone without malice (i.e., you were just stupid), you can be held liable for manslaughter. Its not like you only need to prove 1st degree murder.

It is what it is, and people should not be surprised. The department says the cop's actions were "not justified", yet no criminal punishment? Ok, so cops can basically "unjustifiably kill people", yet face no criminal repercussions.

Seattle, for all its "we're so liberal" bullshit, it really is no different than any other big city. The city is segregated (what little black population it has resides mostly in the south end), and they love minorities as long as they don't get in the way of the establishment. At least in the deep south, they're honest and up-front about their stereotypes, racism and biases. In Seattle, they're just "smarter" about covering up their tracks.

While I explained what the duty of the D.A. is...I agree that a manslaughter (most if not all states have a voluntary and involuntary manslaughter charge available to them) charge should of held up for a conviction...but then again I do not know what the officer's story to the D.A. is or who may have been present to dispute any story he told...in other words I do not know what evidence was available to the D.A. that he could use to have a successful prosecution.

It does seem to me that anyone that cares could call for the FBI to investigate to see if the Feds think they could bring a successful prosecution for a violation of the man's civil rights...as was brought against the cops that beat Rodney King...when they were aquitted in state court...by a jury.

ohhh i get it!! you can't prove intent to murder because when the cop unloaded his clip into this guy, he had no INTENTion of killing the carver. never a miscommunication between the police and prosecutors eh?

it was an accident maybe? the cop just tripped on the curb as he was walking over to peacefully interview the carver and every shot in his pistole ACCIDENTALLY went off into the poor guy. wrong place wrong time for the carver, right? maybe he just should've stayed home.. oh wait.