Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

On April 10, about 50 community members attended a “Community Not Cameras” press briefing and rally at Seattle City Hall Plaza. Tamales and flyers were being passed out to people who were there to call on Mayor Wilson to immediately turn off all surveillance cameras in the city and to pause the CCTV Pilot Program expansion. 

“Many of us had hope— I know I certainly did— but I am not shocked by the outcome of an elected official continuing the status quo and the program as usual,” Renaissance from Protect Our Pitch 206 said.

Renaissance said he is a survivor of an attack and almost murder by police officers, homelessness, substance use, the school-to-prison pipeline, and being on his own. Ahead of the World Cup, which will feature several matches in Seattle beginning this June, Mayor Wilson decided to add 20 cameras to the Stadium District. She previously said they will be turned off and only activated if there is a “credible threat,” but the city has yet to define that term, with no deadline other than before the World Cup starts. 

Furthermore, this video surveillance data will be stored at the Real Time Crime Center for five days before being erased, unless an incident is flagged, in which is gets stored on Axon’s evidence.com. Axon has a long-term partnership with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), providing body-worn video cameras, AI software, and storage systems like evidence.com— which anyone can access. Servers are located outside of the state, meaning that Washington’s surveillance protections are exempt. Noah Williams is a cyber security expert and communications secretary for the Transit Riders Union, which was founded by the mayor and recently called on her to end surveillance and invest in community safety programs.

Williams said the Axon Platform system uses AI to operate and view footage, and that ICE agents can also view that footage with a subpoena or a “strongly worded letter” from the feds threatening to remove funding and contracts if data is not turned over. 

“Hearing that she is cherry picking whose perspectives to listen to and saying that everybody in this community and everybody in that community, whom she has heard from, is saying that they want more cameras, when it’s very clear we’re going to be hearing from some other groups, like Whose Streets? Our Streets!, who have been fighting against surveillance in our communities for several years,” Renaissance added. 

Matthew McIntosh from the mayor’s office showed up with a cup of coffee and was called out by Our Seattle as he approached. McIntosh was asked if money used for surveillance cameras could be redistributed back into the community, and he responded by saying he wasn’t there to answer questions, but to listen. 

“We demand accountability!” one person said after the speaker system cut out. One person began chanting “Do your job!” as many in the crowd chimed in. 

Castill Hightower has spent years seeking justice for survivors and family members impacted by police brutality. In 2004, her brother Herbert Hightower Jr. was killed by SPD while experiencing a mental health crisis. She spoke into a megaphone and said her mother recently passed away, and that she often thinks about what she went through. 

“As someone impacted by both gun and police violence, I am deeply disturbed by Mayor Wilson continuing to use our trauma as a core to police surveillance, rather than relying on the facts that surveillance does not reduce violent crime, but does add to the continuing pace of police brutality,” Hightower said. 

Mayor Wilson continues to push those impacted out of conversations regarding police accountability and resources and supports for victims and family members, which are the same tactics former Mayor Bruce Harrell used, causing further harm, Hightower said, as crowd members cheered and clapped. 

“Impacted communities deserve investment to protect the sanctity of life, not one that further endangers it. And then, when police inevitably harm us, we should not be left to scramble to bury our loved ones and access medical treatment, while the officer is put on paid administrative leave,” Hightower said. 

Justice for Herbert is circulating a letter to the mayor and city council to demand that they create permanent resources for impacted people, and continues to encourage people to sign-on. Meanwhile, Mayor Wilson stayed fairly silent that day, with no social media posts or press briefings.

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