CHS will be covering the memorial procession to honor Seattle Police Department officer Timothy Brenton as it passes across Capitol Hill this morning. The more than 1,000 vehicles and thousands of police, fire and emergency personnel expected to participate in the procession leave the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium parking lot starting at 9 AM. They are expected to begin passing through the Capitol Hill area after 10 AM on their way to Key Arena where the memorial will be held.
- A map of the route can be found here.
- There is no street parking along the route and bus service will be disrupted. Seattle Transit Blog has a list of planned re-routes. Metro says to expect delays.
- If you have a report from your morning’s bus experience to share, leave a comment here or Tweet to #caphillbus
Watch this post for updates and pictures from the procession. Our news partner the Seattle Times is also updating an interactive map and timeline of today’s events . You can watch live video coverage from KING-5 here .
UPDATE:
Photo: Scott Durham/Central District News
Central District News has coverage of the memorial ceremony at Key Arena . You can also check out photos of the procession’s path through the CD here .
Can’t find ANY useful info on the website…basically what Metro and the City are saying is, “Fuck you, if you need to get to work, school, medical appointments, etc”
I’m sorry this police officer was slaughtered and he deserves to be remembered and honored, but I’m a bit confused why this couldn’t have happened on a Saturday, or had the procession start at Safeco Field, go through downtown and end up at Key…would have impacted far fewer people and allowed more people to watch the memorial in person, on the streets or on tv.
And thus begins our tribute to officer Brenton. But I hear ya. So far, #caphillbus reports are of a mellow morning.
What’s the purpose of the procession in the first place? We’re not moving people from a funeral parlor to a cemetery. The memorial/funeral/tribute/paying-of-respect is at Key Arena. This is pure spectacle. Who arranged it — the public or the police? Does anyone else get to arrange such a disruptive tribute to their dead colleague? If not, why should the police?
Phil, I’m as cynical as they come but today seemed like a healthy way for those who wanted to — and some who thought they wouldn’t — mourn. It seemed to go very smoothly and the disruptions, in the end, were minimal.
I believe that the Police deserve extra respect and we can cut them a bit of slack here.
I am aware of two incidents, within 400 yards of my house, where officers confronted heavily armed killers.
In both cases they could have held back and waited for the SWAT team.
In both cases they advanced on the killer and (probably) prevented more deaths or injuries to the (many) bystanders.
Actions speak louder than words.
More healthy than simply attending the memorial service?
In the end, it was a 75-minute disruption, not a three-hour one as forewarned. It’s still a big disruption for someone who died performing one of many honorable jobs. The others get an obituary and a funeral, not a cross-town parade.
Our police do an important job for us. I don’t like them putting themselves in a separate class. If we’re going to do this sort of thing so that we can hire them at a lower rate than we’d otherwise pay, then let’s admit that this is an ego-booster for underpaid public servants. Let’s not pretend that the public came together and decided to honor someone in this manner.
People die under unfortunate circumstances all the time. Bad people die, and good people die. This was a police officer, not a criminal, an office administrator, a bus driver, a park ranger, a doctor, or a firefighter, and not Ghandi.
How do we decide who gets to throw their colleague a cross-town pre-funeral parade when he or she dies?
Agreed. Police deserve extra respect, especially after they’ve been killed in the line of duty, and it’s really too bad they’re not getting that respect it in this comment thread so far.
They do their jobs in public, and their jobs are to protect the public so it seems fitting to me that they also be honored in public, even if it means a disruption to someones commute.
Police deserve more respect than whom, Andrew? It seems that they’re arranging to provide themselves with more respect than almost anyone else, and I think that’s wrong.
In an age when people are decreasingly-aware of their rights with respect to police encounters and don’t understand the separation of roles of executive and judicial branches of government, when police drive SUVs and sports cars funded by the spoils of civil forfeiture, when police use hand-held cattle prods that were intended to be a less-lethal device for handling situations that would otherwise warrant bullets to simply gain compliance, when Homeland Security grants fund the conversion of police departments from friendly neighborhood assistants to paramilitary adversaries, I’m particularly disturbed by anything resembling a show of force on their part, even if it’s presented under the guise of a memorial service. If there ever was a time to knock the collective ego of police down a notch, it’s now (well, a couple weeks ago or next week, anyway).
Cut them a bit of slack this week? Sure. Be a little pissy on the job. Take some time off. Look at Datsun B210’s with otherwise-unacceptable suspicion. Put off some lower-priority duties for a few days. *Maybe* even focus on investigation of your colleague’s murder to the detriment of the other ongoing murder investigations. But have us pay you to parade across the city just in case anyone didn’t notice that your buddy died while performing his known-dangerous job at a time when police are generally treating the people they serve with less and less respect every day? I’m just not convinced that’s a good idea.
Cheesecake, you’re coming close to sounding like someone who was raised in a police state. Police deserve more respect than whom? They do an often-dangerous and often-thankless job, but they’re not volunteering their time. We pay them to do those dangerous and thankless things. Are you suggesting that we are paying them less than the job — with all its risk and stress — is worth, and that kissing their feet will balance the scales?
I respect people without regard for the uniforms they wear. The officers Andrew described above deserve extra respect for their actions. These officers and these officers deserve our disgust. They all wear the same uniforms.
The answer is that it is more meaningful precisely because it is about something much bigger than the individual. The cutting short of Officer Brenton’s life is the same level of tragedy for his friends and family and co-workers as anyone else cut down in such a manner. However, while in that uniform, he is more than Timothy Brenton. He is a symbol, and in this case a symbol of law and order: a system no doubt flawed but nevertheless the very foundation upon which our freedom and possibilities rely. To recognize that has nothing to do with accusations of a ‘police state’.
This reaction is warranted because of how and why he was targeted. He was killed not for who he was but for what he symbolized, which makes it a crime against so much more than the individual. It is an act of terrorism– violence as a means to intimidate and coerce a population, creating large scale fear and questioning. This is why I support hate crimes legislation. To be a target for violence for no reason other than that you are viewed as a symbol of a larger identity or group is a crime against the very fabric of our flawed but surprisingly civilized society. It is so much bigger than the violent act itself and should be responded to as such.
I understand the frustration some might feel if these rituals are perceived to be about glorifying the police (and some shallow thinkers will make it about that), which might seem very unfair given very real frustrations and deep concerns about police culture and behavior in certain circumstances. But this is not about that. It’s about a chance to stand up and reject a cowardly act of terror aimed at the society we have built and about a chance to reaffirm that we acknowledge those people (paid, yes) who take it upon themselves to put this particular target on their back where we all would not.
Select (and admittedly one-sided) comments that were left in response to a related Slog post follow:
Dwight Moody wrote:
Will in Seattle wrote:
Dwight Moody wrote:
Gurldoggie wrote:
“Sad but true” wrote:
Dwight Moody wrote:
Sounds like you would complain regardless of what day it was scheduled on. I don’t know if that is because of your dislike of the police or your dislike of everything.
Thanks for at least admitting that you will only look at one side of an arguement.
Regardless of what the police do or do not do you will find fault with it. I’m not sure discussing something with someone with that perspective would result in meaningful dialogue.
I’m with you on the idea that it was a symbolic assault on us all, on our system of laws and justice. But it was not terrorism. Please, while that word still has a shred of meaning, don’t misuse it. There’s no coercion here, no credit claimed, no demands made. It was a violent crime committed anonymously and without explanation, not use of a war tactic. The politicization of the situation came well after the murder.
Not an act of terror?
Yes, this word is politicized (many would argue that it is a *purely* political concept, entirely dependent on the biased perspective of its user no matter how used), and used wantonly. However, I maintain that an act such as this, pending additional evidence and information, very well falls under the umbrella, and is truer to the meaning of this category of crime than most popular uses of the term.
Nevertheless, the key issue is the incorrect assumption that these kinds of social rituals are about an individual and should be compared to the treatment of other individuals. And to judge anyone who recognizes this of ‘uniform worship’, ‘lack of concern for vigilant protection of civil liberties’, or being ‘undemocratic’ is beyond the pale. The ignorance lies in not being willing to recognize how integral law and order are to democracy at the same time that you recognize the very delicate balance of ensuring whilst avidly guarding civil liberty.
Very well said, Jessica! I find it disheartening that some people are focusing so intently on the “inconvenience” of a memorial service and funeral procession to honor a slain officer who helped to serve and protect the community.
Yes, well said, Jessica. I think I mostly agree with you, though you slipped into the neo-con use of the word “terror” to mean “terrorism”. An act of terror is, I suppose, anything that causes terror. An act of terrorism is something different, and it’s arguable whether or not shooting a police officer is an act of terrorism. I content that in this context, it is not.
EC, I think you misinterpret some people’s concerns about the police elevating themselves well above others as complaints about the inconvenience that results from one of their actions. The non-funeral-procession (remember this wasn’t getting people from a funeral parlor to a cemetery; nothing but a gathering of vehicles happened at Husky Stadium) today was an inconvenience, and had it lasted for three hours as we were warned that it would, it would have been quite a large inconvenience. But in the scheme of things, the problem there is not the inconvenience to those people who were or would have been affected, but the ability of our police to step in and inconvenience people at-will, and the expectation that we’ll bow to them as they do so.
If everyone employed in some honorable profession who died a tragic death resulted in the summoning of the nearest 1500 people in the same profession who then shut a slice through the city for three hours — all at taxpayer expense — not because they need to move a big group of people from point A to point B, but simply to make a big show of things, this would feel quite different. But everyone deserving of our respect doesn’t get to do that. Only the police do.
In the Central District where this murder occurred, there is a long bloody history of SPD violence and corruption. We entrust our protectors with great power, and when that trust is abused and that power is used against the vulnerable and marginalized, a violent backlash is inevitable. Police are the gatekeepers of a society divided. They protect and serve property owners while using the authority we the people have given them in order to oppress those at the bottom of the social pyramid. Cops kill poor people all the time. The State is now using Timothy Brenton’s funeral to remind us peasants of their power over those they claim to protect and serve. There are no special funerals for people killed by law enforcement.
One more Slog comment on this from someone I quoted earlier, Dwight Moody:
I botched the quotation in that last comment. The last paragraph (“I’m not […] manipulated.”) are my words, not Dwight’s.
Sure, corruption happens everywhere not just with the police. But it is usually done by a few. The vast majority of police are no different than you are. Cops just don’t go around killing the poor for sport as you suggest. If you really are coming at it from that angle then it really wouldn’t matter what police do you would find fault with it. Both you and Phil must have had some really interesting run-ins with the police in your past.
The SLOG is also a great source for supporting material especially if you just want to look at one side of the argument and prove that your side is the only way to look at it.
Law and Order is essential in a democracy. To establish and maintain law and order you need two things: for the people to understand that they are accountable to the law, enforced by what are now modern police forces, AND for the law enforcment to be accountable and earn the public trust. A breakdown on either side is a grave threat to the order and the democracy and equally important. And yes there are ‘special funerals’ on the other side of that equation. As a result of unjust violence suffered at the hands of the law many a martyr has been rightfully born. Out come the megaphones, the preaching, the organizing, the rallies and the parades. And as it should be. It won’t often have the establishment behind it, that is true.
Regrettably, there are legitimate sources for the kind of anger and frustration you communicate above. However, the level of paranoia and misunderstanding you demontrate is a clear case of allowing your emotion to cloud your reason. The demonstration of this kind of deeply held prejudice against the very purpose and being of people performing this job, no distinction among any one of them apparently, is all the more evidence for how dangerous a duty some people willingly take on.
Someone anonymously wrote:
Agreed. And in most cases, those who are honest publicly denounce those who are found to be corrupt. Not so with police. When bad apples emerge, the others tend to circle wagons. When police choose to stand by those who abuse the power with which we entrust them, those who stand by are bound to lose respect of the public.
Do you suppose that if I was murdered on the job Monday, 1500 computer programmers from a three-state area would show up and parade across the city in my honor? If I was videotaped on the job beating the pulp out of someone while two other people held him pinned to the ground with one arm behind his back, would I still have a job? Would my co-workers remain silent about my actions?
Straw man. That was neither written nor implied.
You missed one. Oh right, you are only looking at it from one-side so that it supports your position.
Some of the anti-establishment posts on this website appear to be from criminals and sociopaths. It is as if Saturday is computer day at Walla Walla and Western State Hospital.
If you were murdered, at this point other computer programmers would just show up to take your job because unemployment is so high.
Whether 1500 computer programmers show up to honor you says more about your profession then anything else and I am not sure it is really relevant. I don’t know why your colleagues would not show and give you that kind of respect. Maybe they don’t respect you.
Police officers most likely show each other that kind of respect because each of them knows on any given day it could have been them. Each of them knows that each day they go to work could be their last. Most computer programmers don’t have jobs that put their lives at risk to protect others.
My job puts me at very little risk of being killed on the job. Police put themselves at far greater risk of such than I do. But you know who’s more likely to be killed on the job? Loggers. And aircraft pilots. Fishers, fishing workers, structural steel workers, and refuse collectors.
CNN reported in 2006 (“America’s most dangerous jobs Survey: Loggers and fisherman still take the most risk; roofers record sharp increase in fatalities,” September 23, 2005, by Les Christie, CNN/Money) the following about the ten most dangerous jobs in the United States:
rank : occupation : death rate / 100,000 : total deaths
———————————————————–
1 : Logging workers : 92.4 : 85
2 : Aircraft pilots : 92.4 : 109
3 : Fishers and fishing workers : 86.4 : 38
4 : Structural iron and steel workers : 47.0 : 31
5 : Refuse and recyclable material collectors : 43.2 : 35
6 : Farmers and ranchers : 37.5 : 307
7 : Roofers : 34.9 : 94
8 : Electrical power line installers/repairers : 30.0 : 36
9 : Driver/sales workers and truck drivers : 27.6 : 905
10 : Taxi drivers and chauffeurs : 24.2 : 67
This isn’t some random accidental ‘death on the job’ like a logger falling out of a tree or an ice trucker who slips through the cracks in the road or any other typical in the line of duty tragedy. It’s been made ABUNDANTLY clear that this was just one in a series of unprovoked attacks on someone because they were a cop. Had Officer Brenton violated this person’s civil rights? Were the officers that were targeted by this person’s bomb a few weeks back guilty of an assault on his freedom as an American.
It is absurd that people can argue that this murder is just any other run-of-the-mill homicide. This officer was killed by someone who wanted to kill cops. Why? Simply for the sake of killing cops to make his twisted point about the injustices he and his mentors perceive to exist in the justice system. We have courts for that.