SocialistWorker: Inquest verdict 'damning' to police officer's story

Thursday, January 27, 2011  

"Four-point-six seconds. That was the amount of time John T. Williams had to respond to Seattle police officer Ian Birk's order to put down his legal three-inch carving knife before Birk unloaded five lethal rounds into his back on August 30.

"Four seconds to death" read the headbands of protesters during the recent inquest into his death.

An eight-member jury issued its findings last week after five days of testimony at the King County Courthouse. Their task was to establish the facts surrounding the incident, not to make a determination of Birk's guilt. It is now up to the discretion of King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg to press criminal and/or civil charges against Birk.

Each juror was asked to answer "yes," "no" or "unknown" to a series of 19 questions. They did not have to agree. The full list of questions and responses can be read online.

Despite the mainstream press' description of the results as "split" or "mixed," they actually are quite damning to the police version of events."

Get the Story:
Four seconds to his death (SocialistWorker.Org 1/27)

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