Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

Our Seattle, a grassroots movement made-up of Mayor Katie Wilson’s former campaign volunteers, is hosting a rally on April 10 outside Seattle City Hall to demand that she turn surveillance cameras across the city off. During the safety and surveillance town hall on March 27, activists handed out flyers to promote this event as attendees entered the building.

The flyer quotes Mayor Wilson from September 2025, during her campaign, as stating, “Turning on more cameras won’t magically make our neighborhoods safer, but it will certainly make our neighborhoods more vulnerable.”

It talks about Axon, which Seattle uses to store some of its surveillance footage on evidence.com, with servers outside of WA. Thus, the state’s surveillance protections are exempt from laws that protect immigrants and people seeking reproductive healthcare, which the feds have been using to track, and arrest people.

The mayor stated the NYU Policing Project is conducting an audit of surveillance in Seattle, which sells information to law enforcement and has worked to “sanitize and legitimize a limited version of public safety that relies on increased weaponry for law enforcement and surveillance of poor, marginalized, Black and Brown communities,” according to the flyer.

Our Seattle expressed that resources for mental healthcare, affordable housing, direct income, substance use disorder treatment facilities, and expanding library hours can be ways to reduce violent crime. Investing in community-based organizations, like Community Passageways, Rainier Ave Youth Safety, Rainier Beach Action Coalition, and others, are also effective.

The event will take place at Seattle City Hall, located at 600 4th Ave on April 10 at noon. Anti-surveillance advocates and people impacted by surveillance will provide remarks at the plaza.

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