Alleged Ferrari shooter Andrew Patterson charged with second degree murder

The man arrested Thursday on suspicion of killing Justin Ferrari at MLK and Cherry in May has been identified as Andrew Jermain Patterson, 20. He was charged with second degree murder Friday and is being held on $2 million bail. If convicted, he could face 15-23 years in prison, Seattle Times reports.

According to Patterson’s MySpace page (which has not been updated for a couple years) he is from “cherry 31st” but moved to Federal Way. Court documents show a range of past offenses both as a juvenile and an adult.

From the Times:

According to court records, Patterson has an arrest record that includes juvenile charges for third-degree theft, residential burglary and criminal trespass. He has never been convicted of a felony as an adult in King County, although he was arrested in April 2011 for possession of a controlled substance. The charge was reduced to misdemeanor criminal solicitation, court records show.

The documents say that Patterson, who was then 18, had raw and bloody knuckles when he was arrested for participating in a series of fistfights in downtown Seattle, according to the probable-cause statement in the case. When he was arrested, officers found 12 Ecstasy tablets in his basketball shorts and he told them he took the drug daily, the statement says.

Most recently, Patterson was charged in Auburn Municipal Court with fourth-degree domestic-violence assault. As part of that case, which is pending, the court ordered him on April 26 not to possess any firearms — one month before the shot that killed Ferrari was fired.

Patterson was arrested at a home in Federal Way after several witnesses descriptions, video surveillance from a bus, cell phone records and information from an informant pointed to him. Suspicious neighbors on 31st Ave, where police served a search warrant Thursday, also may have played a part in the case, though residents at the searched home denied their home was involved:

The neighbor said he had seen a young man at the home who matched a description given out by police after the shooting. He became suspicious and called police, he said, when the man disappeared after the shooting.

“I didn’t see him after that day, but he came back once this week,” the neighbor said.

Residents of the home that was searched on 31st Avenue, who also asked not to be named, denied Patterson had ever been a guest in the home. One resident said the raid on Thursday morning was “a case of mistaken identity.”

Ferrari, who lived with his wife and two children in Madrona, was driving a van westbound on Cherry at MLK May 24 when a bullet struck him in the head and killed him. His children and his parents—visiting from out of town—were in the van with him when he was killed. He died in his father’s arms. He was 42.

UPDATE 1:29pm: From the King County Prosecutor’s Office:

Andrew J. Patterson was charged this morning with Murder in the Second Degree for the May 24 shooting death of Justin Ferrari, who was killed by a stray bullet as he drove through Seattle’s Central District with his family. Patterson, 20, was in a dispute with another individual when he opened fire from across a street. A stray bullet struck Ferrari in the head as he was driving through an intersection with his parents and his two young children in the car. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg praised the work of Seattle Police detectives Al Cruise and Russ Weklych, and members of the homicide and gang units. “This case is the result of outstanding investigative work by detectives with the Seattle Police Department who were relentless in their pursuit of the suspect,” Satterberg said. Patterson remains in jail on $2 million bail. Prosecutors filed a firearm enhancement with the murder charge, and if convicted as charged, the defendant would face a sentence of 15 to 23 years in prison under state sentencing law. Patterson’s first court appearance will be at arraignment on August 2 at 8:30 a.m. in courtroom 1201 at the King County Courthouse.

65 thoughts on “Alleged Ferrari shooter Andrew Patterson charged with second degree murder

  1. We need to eliminate these shootings as much as we can. Seattle is a place where we all should be concerned about our youth, and their future.

  2. I’m relieved to hear that this man has been arrested and will be off the streets and no longer causing problems for a long time. He is a bad guy and he does not deserve our sympathy. What we should sympathize for are those who are at risk towards going down his path. We should support and love children both at home and through our community and schools. With proper love and attention children grow up into good standing adults it is when children are neglected and abused that they turn towards violence and hate.

  3. He’ll have more chances to kill. No matter if it is Federal or State. This ain’t Shawshank. He’ll be back to see us again. Poor kid.

  4. I base it on ignorance that is frequently correct.

    The statutes do allow some variability, so, maybe they will keep the murder charge. But, the fact is he did not intend to kill. It may have been a reckless act. Hopefully we don’t find out he gets off on self defense. On the other hand, we have no idea who he was shooting at or why. I’m not defending the idiot. I would like to see him ____. (you can fill in with what ever you like.)

    Just saying that we are not the hard on crime police state that everyone rallies about. People get back out on the street for all kinds of stuff. 2 years or 20. He’ll be back. My bet is 2 – 5. He pleads to manslaughter, prosecution gets a sure thing and he doesn’t get off on self defense.

  5. Agreed. Jury trials are expensive and all sorts of wild cards come in to play. I believe he will plead to manslaughter and do less than 10 years, unless he loses “good time” in prison by misbehavior.

  6. Hate to be the one to tell you guys this!! HE DIDNT DO IT!! This is a political arrest! This POOR young man is going up under the jail, because he cant afford the resources to defend himself properly! SAD!! you have vilified this young man before the facts have surfaced!

  7. smoke another one uppity… and take your ignorant racist paranoia somewhere else. you continue to look like an idiot on this site and do nothing but feed the flames of negative discourse.

  8. Pothead- since the facts haven’t surfaced as you say, how do you know he’s innocent?

    or were you involved?

    where are you getting your info?

  9. @uppitypothead – He IS innocent until proven guilty, but only the information that makes it to court will count towards his defense. I don’t know what actually happened. I wasn’t there. That’s why trials are so important.

    @grumbo – You’re probably right that lots and lots of cases plead out for a variety of reasons. What you’re not addressing here is that nobody has the right to a plea-deal. As you say, prosecutors and attorneys general may decide that some crimes are simply better handled outside of court, but that’s not the same as saying ALL crimes should be handled this way.

    For better or for worse, this is a higher-profile crime and people (like us) are going to pay attention to it. Even if you take a hyper-cynical approach and say that actual justice doesn’t really matter, that same cynicism should also suggest that elections (and job security) do. Not treating this crime with the seriousness it deserve would not make the voters very happy. I’m not so cynical, but even if I was, I’m convinced that this is not a case where we’ll see a lot of cut corners or a lack of attention from city prosecutors.

  10. It’s worth mentioning that shooting someone dead right in front of his 2 little kids is a particulary heinous aspect to this murder, as well as the aggravting factor that he had a gun in spite of court order not to– The latter especially being a point for not getting as much leniency as he might otherwise.

  11. Your probably right – he’ll get a good attorney, the ACLU will come in and say the videos are a violation of his civil liberties, and he’ll likely walk with jury that can’t use that as evidence.

    I still applaud the police for finding – excellent work!

  12. For uppitypothead; I am one of the Detectives working this case. If you have information regarding the arrested person or any information regarding this case please call me. This investigation is on-going and we will continue to contact and interview people. My direct line is 206-684-5567. If I do not answer please leave a message on my machine. Thank you for any help you provide.

  13. People don’t have the right to privacy in a public place– so I’m having trouble understanding how you figure videotaping someone in public violates their civil liberties….?

  14. Thank you, Detective Weklych and colleagues for your hard work in bringing some start to a resolution, if not closure, for Mr. Ferrari’s family. Good job (!) doing some seriously modern-age detective work. Thank you.

  15. Andrew patterson is a loving , kind , sweet, young man. He is also a father, brother, & son. He has goals and dreams 2.
    My heart goes out to the family of the victim. And I am truly sorry for your loss.
    I believe he is innocent innocent of this crime. He is my cousin one of the best. Yes he has been in some trouble, but I do not think that he did this.

  16. $2,000,000 BAIL FOR ACCIDENTAL SHOOTING? $150,000 FOR ZIMMERMAN’S INTENTIONAL MURDER OF TRAYVON MARTIN? BLACK YOUTH ARE ALWAYS “GUILTY” WHILE WHITE MALES ARE ALWAYS “ZIMMERMAN INNOCENT”? WHEN THE RIOTS START UP AGAIN YOU WILL ONLY NEED TO RE-READ THE “KERNER REPORT ON “INSTITUTIONALIZED RACISM (EUROPEAN SETTLER COLONIAL “JUDEO -CHRISTIAN” TERRORISM/SLAVERY)CIVIL DISORDER”?? “THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN TH SAME???JUSTICE = PEACE!!! Omari Tahir

  17. 100% sure they got the wrong person!!!!! Bet you that lil dude starts talking if he ever wants 2 see day light…..

  18. Thank you Seattle Police Department for making our neighborhood a safer place this week! Kudos for following a comprehensive process and achieving this outcome. We are thankful!

  19. Different circumstances, different jurisdictions and state. I think you’ll find that plenty of the “colonialists” you rail against don’t agree with Zimmerman’s low bail either.

  20. The system didn’t even agree with Zimmerman’s low bail. He was rejailed and his bail was re-set at $1M after it was discovered his wife lied about their finances…

  21. It appears that Patterson was sheltered during period after the alleged crime. If that’s the case, I sure do hope that those people pay a price. Life in our neighborhood would be a whole lot better with a few more armed thugs off the street.

  22. Hey pot head, you have been identified in this and the previous story on this as potentially having knowledge. Please for the sake of the community and for what ever is right in this world, drop the troll posture and contact the SPD. Withholding evidence is a crime but more so, a disservive to humanity. Call!

  23. Or perhaps he’s just shooting off his mouth talking shit with nothing to back it up? Sure haven’t seen much from him since….

  24. We should also be confiscating real estate, demolishing gang safe houses and selling the properties to developers help pay for the police work.

  25. Where are the fed charges?

    http://www.king5.com/news/local/Seattle-plan-to-combat-gun-crime-159415415.html

    “Today we want to send a very clear message: If you bring a gun to a crime you will do time, and you will likely will do federal time,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkin.

    “If you commit a gun crime in Seattle, we will arrest you. We will work with our partners at the Prosecutor’s Office and U.S. Attorney’s Office to ensure that you get the maximum time,” said Seattle Police Deputy Chief Nick Metz.

  26. Oh no. That’s not right. He has been a bully in the neiborhood for several years carrying on with other bullies. He’s a smug little crook.

  27. Yeah, yeah, yeah…. Those riots always work out so well for you, don’t they?

  28. while i am not exactly certain how the justice system works, it could be that once this individual is formerly charged, the federal prosecutor can chose to pick up this case. Or if he hasnt been charged as of yet, it could be that the feds are preparing to charge him. I do believe that the US Attorneys Office should stand by their statement about ensuring that the criminal will get the MAM FED time.

  29. Let’s get beyond the racial generalizations and prosecute all who make our neighborhoods unsafe. Look at an individual’s actions not their race to determine whether they pose a threat to our law abiding community members, who also happen to be black and white. Under this standard, both Zimmerman and Patterson are threats to the community’s safety. Neither Zimmerman’s nor Patterson’s shots were ‘accidental’, in both cases the perpetrators intended to harm someone even if, in the latter case, the shot missed the intended target and hit someone else instead. Both victims were taken from their families causing unimaginable grief. Let’s remember the victims and their families.

  30. The two cases are not similar at all. In the Zimmerman case the two were clearly in a fight involving both men. It is a case that questions who the aggresor was. We don’t need to answer that here, the jury will soon decide. What is undeniable is that the two men were fighting.

    In the Patterson case – he shot a man that was simply passing by. I fail to see how the cases are comparable unless some unlikely additional information is presented.

    Let’s not tie up every future issue with references to Zimmerman. It is a foolish thing to do.

  31. Hey grumbo(if that is your real name)- tone down the hyperbole a little yourself, bulldozers and property confiscation to fund police work? Sounds a bit like Palestine level apartheid tactics. Want a reasoned conversation with real residents of the CD? Then stop trolling and start thinking two times before you hit “submit”.
    How about we change the relationship we have with firearms? If the individuals involved in the Ferrari shooting had a little more weapons familiarization and range time, there might not have been a bystander killed at all. If there were a culture of responsible gun ownership and respect of firearms we would treat them like we do our cars;as licensed operators with insurance and training.
    Instead we have a wild wild west attitude about weapons, NRA cowboys and violence fetishists drive the culture of gun ownership. People like Zimmerman are the face of gated community, “stand your ground” vigilantes. The young men with the unregistered, illegal firearms stuck in their pants waiting for an altercation that will give them cause to pull them out and blaze away are another side.
    If we are a culture that remains solidly in favor of individual gun ownership, and it seems we will be for the foreseeable future, we need to make it a part of our life like any other right; one that also carries great responsibility. Weapons bans are useless if the users and manufacturers of weapons don’t accept the unintended consequences of this product. Just like cars and cigarettes, we have rules over their use and warnings about their potential destructiveness.
    Those who popped off rounds from a short barreled handgun at over a 50 yard range from eachother really had no intention of hitting anybody or protecting themselves. They didn’t know or didn’t care what the consequences of handgun use are, how could they? What do legal owners of handguns know? What do non-gun citizens know? I suggest only what popular entertainment tells them, don’t blame Batman movies for mass killings or Call of Duty games for handgun violence, blame chickenshit politicians who wont bring this problem out into the open because they are afraid of gun rights lobbyists.

  32. OSCAR GRANT (THE IGNORANT CAN GOOGLE HIS NAME) WAS MURDERED ON VIDEO, JOHN T. WILLIAMS MURDER ALSO ON VIDEO(PLENTY ON GOOGLE TOO)). INTENTIONAL KILLERS ON THE LOOSE? WHO CARES? JAMES HOLMES HAD THE GUTS TO COME LIVE AND IN PERSON? WHAT ABOUT THE “DRONE KILLERS AND THEIR MURDEROUS DRONES? WHEN IS THE LAST TIME A GOVERNMENT AGENT (POLICE / MILITARY) KILLED AN UNARMED “NATIVE AMERICAN”, BLACK “REFUGEE” FROM AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE (EUROPEAN SETTLER COLONIAL “JUDEO-CHRISTIAN TERRORISM)OR AN UNARMED “MIDDLE EASTERN MUSLIM”??? WHAT HYPOCRISY AND HYPOCRITES!!!! THE TERRORIST CAUGHT UP WITH GENERAL CUSTER AT THE LITTLE BIG HORN (CUSTERS LAST STAND. ARE THE RUSSIAN AND/OR RED CHINESE COMMUNIST STILL COMING TOO (WE MUST NOT FORGET TO UPGRADE OUR BOMB SHELTER/S)??? Omari Tahir, AFRICATOWN/CENTRAL DISTRICT HISTORIAN

  33. I was really laughing out loud over “Hey grumbo, if that is your real name.” Then I came to, ” If the individuals involved in the Ferrari shooting had a little more weapons familiarization and range time, there might not have been a bystander killed at all.” Good God. Are you seriously of the belief that a jobless, 19 year old gang banger who has already fathered a child, is accused of domestic violence with criminal cases pending, has been ordered by a court to possess no weapons and is standing around on the corner banging is actually going to (a) legally purchase a gun and (b) spend time and money at a shooting range perfecting his skills? Insanity!

  34. You’re saying 2 wrongs make a right.

    We can combat police brutality and abuse of power, wrongful killings, etc. WHILE AT THE SAME TIME prosecuting criminals who shoot random bystanders in our midst. It’s not an either / or proposition. BOTH issues should be addressed. Not one or the other.

  35. Mr. Omari, I have a question for you, as I did not previously know that you were a CD Historian.

    The black middle class moved en-mass in to the CD in the biggest numbers after the internment, in concentration camps, of American citizens of Japanese decent left thousands of CD houses suddenly available at fire-sale prices. Were those who moved in then not opportunistic gentrifiers, being middle class and replacing a repressed, forced out class? Just curious what your take on this is. Thank you.

  36. YOU ARE CORRECT. I WAS “MIS-GUIDED BY SEATTLE PUBLIC SCHOOLS FOR 12 YEARS (1951-1964) WHEN I GRADUATED FROM GARFIELD HIGH SCHOOL IN AFRICATOWN / CENTRAL DISTRICT I KNEW ABOUT ONLY TWO “NEGROES” THAT IS WHAT WE WERE CALLED HERE IN THE “OPEN MINDED NORTHWEST” (NOT N…..S. THESE TWO NEGROES WERE “GEORGE WASHINGTON” CARVER AND BOOKER T. “WASHINGTON”. YES BOTH NAMED AFTER EUROPEAN SETTLER COLONIAL “JUDEO-CHRISTIAN” TERRORIST GEORGE “INDIAN KILLER” WASHINGTON THE ICONIC SLAVE MASTER/TERRORIST FATHER OF THIS SELF-GOVERNING BRITISH SUPER COLONY (THIRTEEN COLONIES UNITED INTO ENGLISH SPEAKING BRITISH SUPER COLONY)? PLEASE READ AND BELIEVE YOUR “COWBOYS KILLED/KILL INDIANS” HISTORY BOOKS? PLEASE GUIDE ME TO MAGNIFICENT CHINA CULTURAL ECONOMIC REVOLUTION??? OH ARE THE RED CHINESE COMMUNIST MY FRIEND OR ENEMIES BECAUSE EVERY THING I PICK UP IN THE STORE IS MADE IN CHINA INCLUDING “AMERICAN” FLAGS??? PLEASE I AM TRULY LOST AND NEED YOUR “GUIDANCE” TO BECOME SUCCESSFUL “CRACK/ER HEAD”???? Omari Tahir, “MIS-GUIDED” 66 YEAR LONG RESIDENT OF AFRICATOWN/CENTRAL DISTRICT AND HISTORIAN (GREW UP ACROSS THE STREET FROM WORLD FAMOUS ARTIST JAMES WASHINGTON JR. AND AROUND THE CORNER FROM FAMED WASHINGTON STATE HISTORIAN RALPH HAYES. OH FORGOT, WHEN JIMI HENDRIX (GUITAR) WENT TO GARFIELD HE USED TO PRACTICE AT OUR HOUSE WITH MY OLDEST BROTHER TOM GARRETT (ALTO SAX), GEORGE GILL (DRUMS), FRED ROLLINS (BARITONE SAX) AND DONALD FLEEKS (PIANO). THEY STILL HAVE EARLIEST RECORDING OF JIMI HENDRIX! STAY TUNED FOR MORE AFRICATOWN/CENTRAL DISTRICT HISTORY!!!

  37. Please educate yourself re abatement of houses in the CD, which was a big deal in the 80’s and early 90’s as a way to combat specific houses which were crime hubs. I lived next door to one. The threat of abatement finally caused Grandma to sell, ending decades of drug dealing out of her house.

  38. Interesting points Phil Donnahue. I’ve always assumed it was a good thing that gangsters were more interested in the look of holding a gun sideways than in hitting anything. Obviously holding it sideways makes it impossible to use the sights and has a lot of ergonimic problems hat make hitting the target unlikely.

    In this case you may be right that a little fire arms training could have saved an innocent life. And, of course end the lives of the intended targes, be that good or bad I don’t know.

    Do you think we can get shooting class onto the SPD curriculum? Have it in the seventh grade so you don’t miss the drop outs. You never know, maybe some of them will stay in school and become cops if they have a good fun class like that. It is strangely possible.

  39. will people stop replying to Mr Tamari’s posts??

    I would like to believe that his heart is in the right place – helping kids….i base this on meeting him several times and chatting at the Post Office.

    But his rambling postings only serve to distract and derail any meaningful conversation on this site.

    Mr Tamari, Please for the love of God stop writing in all caps!!!

    please stop

  40. Nuts as he is, there is usually a gem in there somewhere. In this instance the “deluded by SPS for twelve years” is worth more focus. It is also my opinion that our K-12 curriculum is grossly contaminated by 50 years of social engineering and various bouts of political correctness (right and left wing) gone wrong.

    While I strongly believe that a well educated populace would be a good thing, we don’t have it. We have a population whose minds have been filled with random garbage and a rudimentary lesson or two in purely accademic math and science (vs. applied).

    Even as a child it seemed odd to repeatedly throw in references to the man who supposedly invented peanut butter or cotton gins. I have the same issues with MLK – great guy, but can we distribute the attention to more people, modern and historical. The massive attention on one man has the reverse racial effect by making it look like a one man show rather than a movement.

    I would suggest that 40% of students would be better off dropping out, and then getting paid by the state for progress on an independent curriculum. With a bonus upon graduation. But, I’m only 10 times less nuts than Omari. Most people are too brain dead to be nuts.

  41. what I am suggesting is that if there were a culture of responsible firearm use there would be fewer unintended casualties. If the legal owners of handguns were licensed, insured and trained (like they are in Germany) possibly the relationship Americans have with guns would be like they are with automobiles. Some people use cars irresponsibility, but at least there is an attempt to train drivers about safe use of their killing machine.
    Hoping there would be a trickle down effect where even gang members would have some respect for their weapons, instead of using them like they are in a video game, practicing a little range safety and maybe hitting their target instead of spraying strays all over the neighborhood.

  42. I actually lived in the CD all through the 80’s and 90’s and remember the abatement tactic used by city attorney Doug Jewett. I also remember it brought numerous legal challenges and was dropped because it unfairly punished the families of drug offenders and was an ongoing source of political corruption in its selective enforcement.
    Unscrupulous landlords, land speculators and members of the SPD were investigated in possible unscrupulous actions in the “weed and seed” program that incorporated this tactic. It was wrong then, it is wrong now. It continues in the occupied territories of Palistine where Olive groves and personal homes are bulldozed if family members are suspected of terrorism, we have a legal system in this nation that prevents such blatant abuse of power.
    BTW, crime statistics are at a 40 year low in Seattle and the nation, the reasons are not yet clear why, abatement of homes was abandoned long before this drop in violence. Think on it.

  43. As are pdonahue’s “Olive groves” from which terrorists plan their heinous actions.

  44. What are the laws regarding houses that continually harbor criminals? That are continually the epicenter of gunfire?

    Will do some research on why it was discontinued. Are those laws still on the books?

    If abatement goes after the families of people harboring criminals whose presence not only endangers their own families because they draw drive-by shooting but also anyone within bullet range, then maybe it’s a net good if the offenders/criminals are pushed out of those homes.

  45. Let us know what you find out. There has to be a price for such negligence and complicity.

  46. I don’t know that I support or supported abatements. I remember discussions regarding such actions. It would be interesting to know if any actually took place and if so how many. During this time on my own street, some of the homes experiencing repeated drive by shootings and problems were rentals, some fairly long term rentals, and others were owner occupied. Eventually, most were fixed up and sold by the owners. One rental suffered several very bad incidents over more than a year before the residents moved.

    The idea may have helped residents hold landlords more accountable for the safety of the neighborhood and others who shared a building. Such rules may have encourage all property owners to be more aware and responsible about what happened on their property. I have no idea if there were any successful or justified abatements. There is potential for injustice in such laws. Those with more resources can more easily hire attorneys to assist them, and attorneys would be important to anyone under the threat of abatement.
    Perhaps the threat was the most important aspect of the law. It would be interesting to know what the results were.

  47. Yes. All good points. There is potential for injustice, as in many things. And we must have methods of metering and reviewing justice. Most important is an aware and active community. Injustice happens wherever people hide their heads in the sand.

    It is also an injustice that people should have to live next door to violent criminals and have no way get rid of them. Or worse yet get shot while minding your own business.

    The balance point seems to me to need to shift towards taking the worst of these houses and selling them to productive citizens. I would indeed be interesting to know the history of the ‘progrom’.

  48. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=199 A quick search told me that the city enacted this law in 1988 and used it as a threat in about 700 different houses (most of them single family residences) but only took legal action on 22 of them, resulting in the actual seizure of an undisclosed number. When Marc Sidrin took over in 1990, the plan was dropped. Abatement is a blue law left over from the 1800’s that then DA Doug Jewett resurrected, His first act was to evict the residents of the Seattle Apartments, on the site of the present convention center, ground breaking for the project began shortly thereafter. That was my first clue that the law was being applied with an eye to redevelopment rather than drug activity. Long term residents of Seattle will remember that the pikepine corridor was a “red light” district all through the sixties and seventies where drugs and prostitution were tolerated until developers were ready to pour money into the downtown.
    I am going to get a hold of my old buddies at the Displacement Coalition to get some more specifics on actual seizure levels, but from what I recall it was a wedge to use against hook up houses that moved from place to place during the crack epidemic of the 80s. At that time abandonment and neglect of the housing stock in the CD was at an all time high, I know because I worked for the city’s weatherization program upgrading low income housing. I’ll dig up the subsequent investigations regarding members of the SPD personally profiting from real estate deals resulting from abatement threats, but I assure you that placing that much power in the hands of low paid public servants in combination with forces of the housing bubble are a recipe for corruption.
    I also recall MUCH higher levels of violence and street crime, wish I could find some stats for you all, but if you’ve lived here a while you know it’s true. http://www.freakonomics.com/books/freakonomics/chapter-excer
    All this talk about stronger measures like seizing property and eliminating habus corpus laws seems pretty ridiculous to me after living through some pretty horrendous urban blight zones both here and in California. In fact I seriously question the motives of public leaders like Chief Diez and Bruce Harell for pushing through a firearms carry law they know will get shot down in the state supreme court, not to mention SCOTUS levels. I saw the land grab in action with my own eyes during the “drug war” of the 80s, when people start pushing for a “war on terror” style approach to violence in the CD, I say; be careful what you wish for, it just might come true.

  49. P. I do comletely understand and support your points. Corruption is a constant danger to our society. Police corruption in Seattle has a notorious history and likely exists to some exetent at all times. As does corruption in public schools, Seattle planning department, public utilities, etc, etc, etc.

    A huge part of the problem is that the majority of people don’t want to believe in the problems. Stating that corruption exists in all of our city departments is makes the messenger a ‘negative’ character. It is the same sissy headed problem with Seattlites that keeps them from confronting anything but progress.

    That is great history on the convention center and cap hill and how abatement was used. I would venture a guess that abatement cannot work without somebody willing to shell out for re-development. The question then is – Who is driving? The neighborhood or developers. Clearly economics drives. The next question is – to what extent do I care? Developers coming to the CD is in my interest. Abatement of crack and gang houses is an immediate possitive for me. New neighbors, shops, and restaraunts is a possitive for me. Economic improvements and the rise of the CD to the Urban Utopia it should rightfully be would be fine with me.

    What (more self centerredness from me of course) could possibly make me want to fight it? A deep concern for granny slacker? – na, I don’t care. So I only care that a reasonable balance point can be reached, consistently pushing towards economic improvent. With vigilance over public corruption – as even the smallest seeds of it lead to the complete lawlessness that the City of Seattle government experienced over many decades. I do not know the extent of corruption currenly breaking out in City government, but, we continue to see examples of it surfacing in Public Works, Transportation, Planning and City Light. Also (seperately) at Port and Schools. All police departments are vulnerable to a constant urge for corruption, it does exist, the only question is to what extent. I am a strong advocate of SPD, but, I’m not stupid.

    There is no conclusion. Just putting it out there.

  50. Thanks very much pdonohue for the information. I did search but what I found was very general historical ‘weed and seed’ information. Your link is appreciated
    I do hear what you’re saying regarding abuse of power and developers seizing it opportunistically.
    What I do wonder though is if a group of neighbors surrounding a house that is the frequent target (probably for a reason) of gunfire – can an existing law be used to pressure those homeowners to either evict the likely parties or to get the home up on auction.
    If that home gets bought by a regular citizen it might proved to a solution to a real problem, being afraid of being hit by a stray bullet because of some knucklehead

  51. I’m almost certain that the municipal government maintains the right to take private property in cases of imminent domain and abatement, not private citizens.

  52. Tell that to the jellyfish occupiers. What ever happened to that goober that used to speak for them?

    It would be funny to just occupy the houses. Kick granny to the curb and just fill the house with gentrifiers. Gut it, steal the copper wire and plumbing. Sell the gutters and downspouts to The Recycle Depot on Rainier.

    There is a constant stream of people their that strip rental houses that their grandmothers live in. Al’s house got stripped when he went on vacation for a week. People came in and took his wiring. He’s been living without power for a year.

    Just saying we could use their tactics right back at them. Short of just gunning them down of course.

  53. It is strange to me how they have found this person. It maybe a case of mistaken identity maybe not but if they don’t have an actual video of him shooting a gun or them even finding a gun that connects to him then something fishy. Also I have lived in Seattle for about 7 years in this area and there are many young black men that could match a description of being black wearing red and having braids and the most craziest thing is that in other reports it states that the intended victim is saying he doesn’t think its him. I honestly hope the media hasn’t just picked up someone so that residents have a thought that a killer is off the streets

  54. Has everybody forgotten how the system works?

    Added to probablility that they aren’t able to understand the various qualities of evidence, I might rather fight with gang members than go to trial for something.