Seattle, WA – On August 19, members of the Seattle Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (SAARPR) walked into the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office to demand answers from the top cop lawyer, Leesa Manion.

For months, SAARPR has been asking first the county sheriff and then the county prosecutor for transparency and accountability regarding the Seattle Police Department (SPD) shooting and killing of two Black men, Jack Palelei and Christian Nelson, in the last months of 2025.

In both instances, the men were suffering mental health crises. In both instances, the police escalated the situation, whether by shouting commands, driving onto the sidewalk in their police vehicles to give chase, or pulling out assault-style weapons.

The police in Christian Nelson’s case are responsible for shooting Nelson multiple times, as well as shooting into an apartment building and injuring a bystander. Nelson did not hurt anyone; SPD did. Palelei did not hurt anyone; SPD did.

When municipal police kill someone in King County, the King County Sheriff’s Office is supposed to investigate. Local police cannot be trusted to investigate their own officers. The sheriff’s office then sends the investigation files to the King County prosecutor, who decides whether to charge the officers involved.

Jack Palelei met his death at the hands of the Seattle Police Department in November 2025. According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, they forwarded the investigative file on Jack Palelei’s death to the prosecutor’s office in February. The prosecutor’s office claims to have only just received it. If SAARPR had not inquired into the status of Jack’s case, it remains unclear if the prosecutor’s office would even be aware that it had the file at all.

As is typical of high-powered elected officials, King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion was not in her office or available to meet with her constituents. The office staff did not know how to engage with SAARPR members who came to the office. It quickly became clear that it was uncommon to receive visitors from the public asking about investigations into officer-involved shootings. SAARPR members were determined to wait until someone could give concrete information about what the prosecutor’s office is doing with Jack’s case.

Eventually, a prosecutor came into the lobby to speak with SAARPR. Dan Clark. Mr. Clark admitted that he did not know exactly what was being done with Jack Palelei’s case, although he confirmed that the office did have the investigation on file. The prosecutor’s office, including the specific team that reviews police killings, had a backlog of cases. And something that took place at the end of 2025 was not likely to be next in line.

He also admitted that the prosecutor’s office treats cases of police killing people as more “cut and dry.” Those cases are unlikely to result in charges or discipline for the officers because when police claim to fear for their lives, they seem to be able to justify their actions.

Both Jack Palelei and Christian Nelson were armed. Does that mean that their lives are forfeit? Of course, not. If police escalate a situation, should they be able to claim that they had to kill to save their own lives? No. The fight for police accountability cannot be for “perfect victims” alone, especially when the police use racism to justify their actions. The police should not be able to summarily execute anyone.

Sonya Herrera, the chair of the Seattle Alliance, said, “I went to Leesa Manion and the King County Prosecutor’s office to demand transparency in the case of Jack Palelei. This case has been lost and re-found on a number of occasions, and that’s unacceptable. This person was murdered by SPD and did not deserve to die. He was afraid, suffering through a mental health crisis, and SPD chased him in a vehicle on a sidewalk. I would be scared and try to defend myself too. Things are not cut and dry, as prosecutors make it seem. We need to demand more.”

SAARPR will continue to demand three things of the prosecutor: Release the names of the officers involved in these deaths; release unedited bodycam footage so that SPD’s edited footage is not the only public record, and prosecute the officers and get these killer cops off Seattle’s streets.

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