Let’s remember when Seattle Police officer Ian Birk shot John T. Williams, on this day in 2010 (August 30)

Speakers platform at the raising of the John T. Williams Memorial Totem Pole, Seattle Center, February 26, 2012. John’s brother Rick Williams at left, Arlie Neskahi partly visible behind him. Chief Councillor Jack Thompson, Ditidaht First Nation at right; By Joe Mabel — Flickr: Raising John T. Williams Memorial Totem Pole 300, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18600602

This is such a senseless and 100% unnecessary tragedy.

Per HistoryLink’s Jim Kershner:

On August 30, 2010, Seattle police officer Ian Birk fatally shoots Native American woodcarver John T. Williams (1960–2010) on a downtown Seattle sidewalk. Footage from Birk’s dashboard camera shows Williams walking across the street at Boren Avenue and Howell Street, in front of the patrol car, carrying a board and a small knife. Birk exits the car and demands three times that Williams drop the knife. He later will claim that Williams turned toward him, “brandishing” the knife in a “very confrontational posture.” Several witnesses come forward to refute this claim, and public outrage and protests ensue. The Seattle police department’s Firearms Review Board will rule on October 4, 2010, that the shooting was unjustified. That decision will be finalized on February 15, 2011, and Birk will resign from the Seattle Police Department the following day.

Read the whole thing: