Seattle Police Propaganda Efforts Underline New Book On Media Analysis

Nationally recognized civil rights attorney Alec Karakatsanis has published a new book, copaganda, dissecting the subtle, overt and sinister ways that big media across the United States push for the expansion of the for-profit "punishment bureaucracy." Karakatsanis shows how big outlets like the New York Times have flat

Little Financial Oversight of Seattle Police Federal Monitor

The Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) federal consent decree Monitor, Antonio Oftelie, has not posted a single update to the monitoring team’s website since December 2023, despite receiving numerous payments from the U.S. District Court in Seattle. That might not be the only area of his oversight that’

Federal Monitor had personal contract with Seattle Police Executive

HardPressed has found a private business relationship between the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) Chief Operating Officer Brian Maxey and SPD’s federal consent decree monitor, Antonio Oftelie. As the federal monitor, Oftelie is tasked with leading oversight of police reform at the SPD. The personal financial ties raise major

Sister cities: Be'er Sheva and Seattle's shared history of ethnic cleansing

The Israeli military has kidnapped, tortured and imprisoned Hussam Abu Safiya, a pediatrician and director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza, since December 27 2024. Human rights organizations, governments and millions of people around the world have called for his release and accountability for his kidnapping and torture.  However, just

"Maybe we need to kill more civilians"

In May 2024, the president of the Religious Zionists of America, Martin Oliner, spoke directly to an Israeli government official at a private dinner event in Manhattan. The scope of his statements must be watched. Read the full story published today in Prism: ‘Maybe we need to kill more civilians’

Seattle PD lawyer called redacted video of officer shooting Shaun Fuhr a "good blur"

On April 29, 2020, a Seattle Police Department (SPD) officer fatally shot Shaun Fuhr as he held his daughter. However, at the time, the circumstances and use of force remained unclear to the public because Fuhr and his daughter’s bodies were completely blurred in an SPD produced video of

Northwest Now - featuring me, other journalists and WashCOG

Tune in to Northwest Now on KBTC PBS Tacoma for their 13th annual Open Government 2025 episode: Northwest NowNoneKBTC Thanks to Tom Layson, Steve Kiggins and the entire PBS KBTC team for highlighting the issues of transparency, public records and accountability. Check out my longer conversation with Steve Kiggins here:

"Fake it till I make it" - Seattle PD Federal Monitor

Yes, he actually wrote that in a text. Other texts raise significant concerns from multiple community members and accountability orgs. You can read the full story published today with Prism: Seattle federal monitor’s communications with police raise questions over impartial oversightMessages obtained by Prism reveal backchannel coordination with the

City of Seattle admits to violating Public Records Act in court filing

The city of Seattle has admitted to violating the Washington State Public Records Act (PRA) within their February 18 response to a lawsuit filed by me, Glen Stellmacher, in King County Superior Court. The initial lawsuit alleged that the city violated the PRA in processing two separate public disclosure requests

Lawsuit aims to force disclosure of Seattle PD records related to 2020 protest informant and Federal Monitor’s text messages

I am suing the Seattle Police Department (SPD), again, alleging that the department illegally withheld records requested under the Washington State Public Records Act (PRA). The lawsuit has been filed today in King County Superior Court. Last year, I sued the SPD as well, alleging the department failed to turn

“Project Sequoia”: Seattle PD plans rollout of new bad apple intervention system

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) is planning to implement a new Early Intervention System (EIS) developed in partnership with controversial tech company Accenture.  The EIS system, mandated by Seattle’s 2012 consent decree, aims to “identify and mitigate against factors that may lead to negative performance issues, employee discipline, and/

DOJ used secret court orders in Seattle, forcibly obtaining private information related to 2020 protests

The Inspector General of the US Department of Justice (DOJ) released a report last month, highlighting how the DOJ used secret orders to obtain otherwise private information from the accounts of journalists, congressional staffers, and members of Congress during Trump’s first term as President.  The same type of secret

“Hands up or not,” protesters are a threat: Seattle police union representative defends use of violence

[Content Warning - descriptions of violence - photos of injuries] On May 30, 2020, downtown Seattle was packed with protesters demanding justice after the world witnessed a Minneapolis Police officer murder George Floyd. Soon after protesters began gathering, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) sprayed a seven year old child and

Bruce Harrell’s bill would eliminate limits on the use of lethal chemical agents, shotgun rounds on protesters, finalize SPD’s quest to neuter city law

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell has transmitted legislation to Seattle City Council that would eliminate existing codified limits on lethal chemical agents and extremely dangerous impact projectiles, allowing the Seattle Police Department (SPD) to draft new weapons policies unconstrained by city law. On Tuesday December 10, Seattle City Council’s public

Sponsor of "nonprofit killer" bill H.R. 9495 given award by group with connections to Israeli officials

The small group who gave the award has frequently met with controversial Israeli state officials, Trump himself and Trump 47's latest picks for Secretary of Defense and Ambassador to Israel. Many speculate the bill will be used to try and silence and shut down critics of Israel. Read

Target Corp. working to legitimize police, led by Seattle PD's federal monitor

As the U.S. enters Trump's second reign in 2025, he promises to use sweeping executive powers to displace and deport community members across the country. In numerous cases, Trump has called for jailing journalists, violently displacing the poor and unhoused from downtown business districts, and cracking down

Seattle PD planning expansive new drone program

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) plans “to acquire and use Unmanned Aerial Systems for specialty teams and patrol operations” according to documents obtained by HardPressed. SPD’s Mirs Vonaschen-Cook submitted an initial technology “privacy assessment” request to Seattle’s Information Technology Department (ITD) in July 2023. Months later in April

Seattle PD in their delulu era, targets me and the public

On the morning of Trump’s second Presidential election victory, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) took unilateral action against myself and other members of the public, effectively moving to shut down our access to public records. Multiple SPD communiqués sent through the city’s public records portal, GovQA, described monumental

Seattle's Inspector General doesn't inspect much

One month after The Urbanist published my report into SPD’s use of mutual aid, the Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Office of Inspector General (OIG) jointly quashed an official audit into the policy. My reporting showed that SPD policy allowed mutual aid agencies that respond to Seattle to deploy

Seattle PD gives false statements to city council before surveillance tech vote, again

The Seattle Police Department (SPD) commanders continue to disseminate false information to the public and elected lawmakers. That conduct may be criminal under Washington State Law. However, the arbiter of whether or not their conduct should be referred for criminal charges is SPD themselves. A top SPD executive now says

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City of Seattle to pay $51,250 to settle SPD public records lawsuit

Today, I, Glen Stellmacher, agreed to settle a public records lawsuit with the City of Seattle (City) over the Seattle Police Department’s (SPD) handling of text messages from key employees who were involved in covert infiltration, public relations and intelligence operations during the 2020 protests. The PDRs at issue

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Surprise! Seattle PD was not truthful in surveillance disclosures

Link to full story here: https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2024/08/07/inside-spd-s-use-aerial-surveillance-during-2020-protests This week, Real Change publishes a feature I have been working on for a long time. It shows that Seattle’s Surveillance Ordinance is failing. Seattle PD are using surveillance systems without disclosing them to the

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The Husky’s losing 2023 season won big cash

This week, I’m branching out a bit. As a husky alum, the 2023 football season hit everyone hard. The purple helmets were unbeatable until the wolverines knocked them out in the national championship. (I personally don’t follow football, but I can empathize.) As a former UW club-sport participant,

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A Corridor of Violence

SPD's May 31, 2020 Kettle

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Derailing the defund: How SPD manipulated the media narrative around the 2020 protests

Illustration by Robin Hunt. https://www.realchangenews.org/news/2023/07/19/derailing-defund-how-spd-manipulated-media-narrative-around-2020-protests Additional reporting done by Tobias Coughlin-Bogue.