The Seattle Police Department has gone to court to gain access to unpublished media images from the May 30 protests as part of an investigation to identify who allegedly helped set police vehicles on fire and stole firearms from them.

The SPD is demanding the production of unedited photos and video taken over a 90-minute afternoon period by The Seattle Times, KIRO 7, KING 5, KOMO 4 and KCPQ, according to an affidavit for a search warrant and a subpoena document submitted to King County Superior Court.

Brian Esler, an attorney representing the department, said that no action will be taken to demand the images until after a July 16 telephonic Superior Court hearing, and a judge issues a ruling.

“This is really just a narrowly tailored subpoena to try to get footage of events that occurred in public so we can identify the suspects,” Esler said.

The Seattle Times and the other media outlets are contesting this action in a court brief arguing that a subpoena would violate the First Amendment and a Washington state journalistic shield law that sharply limits the circumstance when unpublished work must be turned over to law enforcement.

“There is nothing narrow about the documents that they have served on the newsrooms,” said Eric Stahl, an attorney representing The Seattle Times and other media companies who called it a fishing expedition in a brief submitted to the court.

The media outlets, as well an amicus brief submitted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, also outline another major objection. They say that granting the subpoena could foster a public impression that journalists are an investigative arm of law enforcement, which could lead to physical harassment when they cover protests.

“Recent examples of violence against journalists covering protests demonstrate that these concerns are well founded,” stated the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press filing, which noted that a journalist covering a May gathering outside a Tucson, Arizona, police station was punched, pushed and kicked by protesters who stated he was “with the police.”

Danny Gawlowski, a Seattle Times assistant managing editor, said in a declaration submitted to the court that one Times photographer was punched in the face by a protester. His statement said that newspaper staff have repeatedly had to explain to protesters that they are independent, and those assurances are instrumental to safely and accurately reporting the news.

The police are seeking “any and all” footage and photographs taken by journalists for the five companies on May 30 during a 90-minute afternoon period in a four-block downtown area between 4th and 6th Avenue and Olive Way to Pike Street, according to a police affidavit.

That tumultuous day included large-scale nonviolent protests. But also by evening 27 people were arrested on suspicion of offenses that included assault, arson and looting. Police, who deployed tear gas and other devices, reported being hit with rocks, bottles and other projectiles.

During the protests, vandals heavily damaged six police vehicles. They smashed windows, removed ballistic helmets, uniforms, emergency medical equipment, fire extinguishers and an accelerant was used to start fires in five vehicles, according to the police affidavit and other documents.

Five firearms were taken from police vehicles.

Three of these weapons were retrieved that day, two off them with the assistance of an armed security guard for Fox affiliate KCPQ.

A loaded Glock Model 43 semi-automatic pistol and a loaded Colt M4 carbine rifle with a suppressor remain missing, according to the SPD affidavit.

Through a review of already available videos and photographs, investigators identified one alleged participant in five police car arsons. Her name is Margaret Channon, a Tacoma woman who was arrested June 11 and charged with five federal counts of arson in a case being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Western District of Washington.

Police are hoping that additional images will help them identify a second suspect in the arsons as well as in stealing a police firearm. He appears in images already obtained by police, and was dressed that day in a red-colored Adidas brand sweatsuit. One screenshot included in the affidavit is a full frontal image of the individual — in face mask and cap — taken from video by the Seattle Fox affiliate.

This suspect — along with Channon — “seemed to be at the forefront for all the damage and mayhem” that unfolded in the 1600 Block of 6th Avenue and 600 block of Pine Street,” according to a Seattle Police Department affidavit submitted to Superior Court.

The police investigation also includes an effort to identify a man dressed in dark-colored top, shorts and a backpack who walked up to one of the police vehicles, reached in through a broken window and stole a tan-colored fanny pack that contained the still-unrecovered Glock semi-automatic pistol. Police also already have images of this individual that are included in the affidavit.

The Washington state shield law passed to limit law enforcement subpoenas of journalists unpublished work requires that the information being sought is “highly material and relevant” and “critical or necessary” to prove an issue that has a compelling public interest for its disclosure. The law also requires law enforcement to demonstrate that all “reasonable and available means” to obtain the information has been exhausted.

In the brief submitted to the court, the media companies’ attorney argues that the SPD cannot meet “its burden” laid out by the law, and requests that the court hold the subpoenas “not enforceable.”

SPD opted to hire Esler, an outside counsel, to represent the city in this legal action, rather than use an in-house counsel.

Casey McNerthney, a spokesman for the King County prosecutor’s office, said that SPD wanted an expert in First Amendment issues, and “we support that decision.”

If the release of this information is ordered by the court, the prosecutor’s office will recommend that a protective order limit the use of video and images to identifying specific perpetrators, and furthering the criminal investigation.

“We are particularly concerned about the police firearms that have been stolen and unaccounted for,” McNerthney wrote.

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© 2020 The Seattle Times

I finally did it.  After years of hem-hawing and debating the ATF EForm 1 process, I am now officially an owner of a National Firearms Act (NFA) Stamp.  I didn’t get struck by lightning and all my animals are still alive.  Not only that, but it was much easier than I ever thought it could […]

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Photo Of The Day – Established in 2014 and a way to show carefully selected photographs from the world of firearms on a daily basis. As a bonus, you get a short story, and hopefully, you’ll learn something new. Today we take a look at the Heckler & Koch MP5 “Schnittmodell“, which is a cutaway model for […]

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This article was originally published by Radio Free Asia and is reprinted with permission.

China on Thursday hit back at international criticism of its draconian new security law for Hong Kong, saying that the city’s residents are under its jurisdiction, indicating that may not be allowed to leave.

After the U.K. announced it would extend residency rights and offer a pathway to citizenship for up to three million of the city’s seven million residents, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in London said Beijing “firmly opposed” the move.

“We firmly oppose this and reserve the right to take corresponding measures,” it said in a statement. “We urge the British side to view objectively and fairly the national security legislation for Hong Kong, respect China’s position and concerns, refrain from interfering in Hong Kong affairs in any way.”

The spokesman said the U.K. had broken its promise not to offer right of abode to Hongkongers made in the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration governing the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to Chinese rule.

“It is made clear in [an interpretation of China’s nationality law by Beijing’s National People’s Congress (NPC) standing committee] that all Chinese compatriots residing in Hong Kong are Chinese nationals, whether or not they are holders of the British Dependent Territories Citizens passport or the British National (Overseas) passport,” the spokesman said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said no amount of pressure from external forces could “shake China’s determination and will to safeguard national sovereignty and Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability.”

His comments came after the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday joined the Senate in approving a bill to impose sanctions on groups that undermined the city’s autonomy or restrict the freedoms promised to Hongkongers.

“China will definitely take strong countermeasures [if the bill becomes law], and all consequences will be borne by the U.S. side,” Zhao told a regular news briefing in Beijing.

Pro-independence flag waver arrested

U.K. foreign secretary Dominic Raab said there would be little his government could do if Chinese were to prevent Hong Kong residents from leaving the city.

“Ultimately we need to be honest that we wouldn’t be able to force China to allow BNOs to come to the UK,” he said.

Thousands of protesters marched against the security law on Wednesday in defiance of a protest ban by police, who arrested 10 people under the new law, one of whom was waving a pro-independence flag.

The law takes aim at actions that occurred during anti-government protests last year. It says destruction of government facilities and utilities would be considered subversive, while damaging public transportation facilities and arson would constitute acts of terrorism.

It brings a maximum penalty of life imprisonment for offenses that could include “causing the people of Hong Kong to have misgivings about [the government],” and theoretically applies to anyone on the planet, regardless of the legal jurisdiction they live under.

Hong Kong police arrested a man on a London-bound flight on Thursday on suspicion of having stabbed a police officer in the arm during Wednesday‘s protests.

The 24-year-old man, surnamed Wong, was arrested on a Cathay Pacific flight after police received an anonymous tip-off about his travel plans, government broadcaster RTHK reported.

U.K. prime minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that imposition of the law was a “clear and serious breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, the treaty under which China promised Hong Kong could run its own affairs and enjoy its traditional freedoms of speech and association for at least 50 years after the handover.

‘Irresponsible and unwarranted’

The Foreign Office summoned Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming on Wednesday to a meeting with Permanent Secretary Simon McDonald.

Liu said the U.K.’s remarks were “irresponsible and unwarranted.”

“The Chinese side urges the UK side to immediately stop interfering in Hong Kong affairs, which are internal affairs of China,” he said.

The row escalated as the U.K. granted political asylum to former British consulate staff member Simon Cheng, who reported being tortured by mainland Chinese police in Shenzhen at the height of last year’s protest movement in Hong Kong.

Cheng said he believed he would be accused, under the new security law, of colluding with foreign forces and that he would be sent to the mainland for trial if he returned to Hong Kong.

U.K. foreign minister Raab said on Wednesday that the U.K. would live up to its responsibilities to the people of Hong Kong.

However, Hongkongers who were born after 1997 aren’t eligible, leaving many of the city’s young student activists left vulnerable to arrest and political prosecution.

Around 2.9 million people are believed to be eligible for the BNO immigration pathway, as well as their immediate dependents.

Australia said it could offer tens of thousands of ‘safe haven’ visas to Hong Kong residents who want to fleet he city, with prime minister Scott Morrison saying that his government is “very actively” considering such a plan.