If something goes wrong, blame the police. That seems to be the socialist mantra. It's playing out this week in Seattle where DSA Mayor Katie Wilson announced that the city's police chief had resigned yesterday.
Mayor Katie Wilson accepted a letter of resignation from Police Chief Shon Barnes, she said in a statement released by the police department. The statement does not say why Barnes resigned.
Wilson told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle that “multiple factors” led to the change.
“I’ll say that this decision was not solely due to the events of Sunday,” she told the station. “Multiple factors figured into this decision and into the conversation that the chief and I had.”
It became clear very quickly this was a case where the chief didn't volunteer to resign, he was pushed.
After multiple Seattle City Councilmembers told KOMO News that Mayor Katie Wilson asked Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes to resign Wednesday night, and that the mayor has confirmed to the council that there will be a "transition" in the Chief's office, the mayor's office officially released a statement announcing the resignation Thursday...
“We are in the heat of the summertime right now. Every summer there is an uptick in violence and you don’t let go of the leader of the law enforcement agency in the midst of summertime and off the back of a mass shooting. it doesn't make sense,” said Dominique Davis, the founder and CEO of Community Passageways. “He's been very engaged in the community. He shows up to community events. We can invite him anywhere."
Dawn Mason, a former state representative, was among the half dozen people who attended the private meeting with the mayor. She said she couldn’t divulge the specifics of the conversation but did her best to show the mayor that removing the police chief would be a mistake.
“You never make a major decision in the midst of grief and right now Seattle is grieving and mourning this great loss,” Mason said. “How is she going to hire a new police chief under these circumstances. Who would want to work for the city?"
As you've probably gathered by now, the mayor made this decision after a shooting that took place last weekend near the Space Needle.
NEW: Images of the chaos emerging from the Seattle Center shooting Sunday evening.
— Jonathan Choe (@choeshow) July 27, 2026
First responders tending to multiple people on the ground. https://t.co/79bUjkbQp6 pic.twitter.com/A8x4zKX8ut
Three people were killed during a shootout which police later suggested was gang-related. One of the deceased was involved in the shootout, the other two were just bystanders enjoying a day out. One of the injured was a toddler.
Three people were killed, and four others were injured after three people exchanged gunfire at a Seattle Center during a large event on Sunday evening, according to Seattle first responders.
The Seattle Mayor's Office confirmed that police had a 15-year-old suspect in custody. Another suspect is still at large. A third suspect, 19-year-old Junior Cee Niko Semo, died at the scene.
SPD recovered two guns, according to SPD Assistant Chief of Special Operations Tyrone Davis. SPD initially believed two people were shooting at each other but later said three people were involved.
The 15-year-old who was arrested apparently had a gun but bullets from his gun didn't kill anyone.
The documents allege the 15-year-old intentionally fired a handgun multiple times into a crowd at Seattle Center on July 26, while armed with a Polymer80 9mm handgun, commonly referred to as a "ghost gun." Prosecutors also allege he illegally possessed the firearm because he was under the age of 18. The charges do not include homicide counts...
The witness described the 15-year-old's shooting as uncontrolled and said it sounded like automatic gunfire. Police said the witness later identified the 15-year-old as the person officers arrested at the scene Sunday evening...
Police apprehended the 15-year-old within minutes of the shooting. The documents report that as he was being led away by officers, he said "Love you, bro" to Niko-Semo as he lay on the ground...
The court documents also reveal neither of the two bystander victims were killed by bullets from the 15-year-old's Polymer80, according to autopsies performed by the medical examiner. The documents do not specify which projectiles resulted in their deaths.
There were actually four clusters of shell casings found at the scene so it's not entirely clear if there is one outstanding person or two who haven't been identified yet. Police Chief Shon Barnes was out of town at a conference for black law enforcement executives when the shooting happened.
So why fire the police chief? It seems likely to me that this is a case where someone needed to take the blame for an embarrassing spectacle that horrified the city and the socialist mayor decided it would be better for the police chief to take the blame than herself.
Will the firing of the chief make the city safer? Not necessarily, but it does change the subject and suggest someone has been punished for the failure. The mayor looks strong by attacking the one group socialists always love to hate: the police.
We'll find out a year from now that people within the department turned on the mayor after this unjustified firing and that her reputation with the department never recovered. Something like that. But Mayor Wilson is probably only thinking about surviving a few bad news cycles.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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