The shooting scene in June 2020
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Fernandez (Image: CHS)
Nikolas Fernandez, the brother of an East Precinct cop charged with first degree assault for the June 7, 2020 shooting that injured a protester in the middle of a Black Lives Matter demonstrations at 11th and Pine, has reached a plea deal on a lesser charge with the King County Prosecutor’s office.
Prosecutor Leesa Manion announced the deal for Fernandez to plead guilty to reckless driving in a Friday message to her staff saying that the the deal does not “diminish the understandable fear of the crowd that day or minimize the impact the defendant’s behavior/actions had on the victim.”
From Fernandez’s plea deal statement
“In June 2020, our office charged a man with Assault in the First Degree for driving into a closed street during a demonstration in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and firing one shot at a man who punched him,” Manion writes. “After a careful and thorough follow-up investigation, we made the decision to resolve this case with a plea to Reckless Driving. Earlier this week, our office discussed our decision with the victim and witnesses. There is no doubt that the victim in this case felt scared when he saw the defendant driving down the closed street. The video evidence in this case shows that he and other protestors responded in a way that they thought was necessary to protect themselves and others.”
Under the deal, Fernandez has agreed to a sentence of 24 months probation, a 30-day driver’s license suspension, plus “mandatory court costs and fines.” The reckless driving charge carries a maximum sentence of 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The full “Case Resolution” message to her office is below.
Fernandez’s trial had been repeatedly delayed. The case was scheduled to come to trial a year ago in February 2022 after delays caused by the by the assignment of a new prosecutor and the “large number of outstanding interviews” required to try the case. The deal came with the latest trial date in April approaching. Fernandez has been free on $150,000 bail.
Fernandez was charged with first degree assault for the shooting that wounded protester Dan Gregory and set off panic in the tightly packed crowd outside the East Precinct in the early days of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. In 2021, CHS reported on Gregory’s hopes for a Carnegie Medal in recognition of his bravery that day as he tried to disarm Fernandez.
NEW: Video provided to CHS shows car in shooting incident speeding onto 11th Ave https://t.co/rt3tIX5Tw7 pic.twitter.com/WdhnEm0qtt
— jseattle (@jseattle) June 9, 2020
Fernandez, the brother of an East Precinct officer, claimed self-defense according to the police report on the incident.
In her letter, Manion said that prosecutors did not believe they had evidence to disprove Fernandez’s claims.
“This case has been reviewed and discussed by some of the most experienced attorneys in our office, and in light of the follow-up investigation, we do not think we can prove an assault charge beyond a reasonable doubt,” Manion writes.
“This reduction is based solely on evidentiary concerns.”
CHS reported on the shooting witnessed by dozens and caught on video. In the initial report on the incident, police say Fernandez passed through the barrier and yelled at officers, “I just had to shoot somebody, they tried to jack my car.” According to the report, Fernandez told police his vehicle stalled and wouldn’t start after the shooting so he “exited the car with his gun in his hand yelling at people to get back away from him.” Fernandez told police he ran through the line and immediately surrendered. “Fernandez said his brother works here at this precinct, and he does not want to do anything to shame him,” the report noted.
The deal marks the second major CHOP legal proceeding to wrap up this week. Thursday, CHS reported on a settlement in the “deliberate indifference” lawsuit against the city brought by Capitol Hill property owners and businesses.
The full letter from Manion to her office is below.
Dear PAO Team:
The purpose of this email is to share some information regarding our office’s resolution of a high-profile case. I am sharing this information because:
- Our employees have asked for more frequent and clear communication regarding office decisions.
- Our employees often field questions from friends, family, defense attorneys and others regarding our office’s decisions. We want to make sure that employees are aware of these decisions and that they have an understanding of the rationale behind our decisions.
- Our Criminal practice DPAs may be asked to make similar resolutions in cases (often where the facts are very different). We want our DPAs and Legal Service Professionals to have at least a high-level understanding of the facts and rationale that informed our office’s decision and a point of contact to reach out to if they have questions.
In June 2020, our office charged a man with Assault in the First Degree for driving into a closed street during a demonstration in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood and firing one shot at a man who punched him. After a careful and thorough follow-up investigation, we made the decision to resolve this case with a plea to Reckless Driving. Earlier this week, our office discussed our decision with the victim and witnesses.
There is no doubt that the victim in this case felt scared when he saw the defendant driving down the closed street. The video evidence in this case shows that he and other protestors responded in a way that they thought was necessary to protect themselves and others.
The defendant in this case has raised a self-defense claim. Accordingly, the jury in this case would be required to view the case from the defendant’s perspective when evaluating his self-defense claim. Over the course of the follow-up investigation, it has become clear that we cannot meet the high burden of disproving self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, which is the standard required by law. This case has been reviewed and discussed by some of the most experienced attorneys in our office, and in light of the follow-up investigation, we do not think we can prove an assault charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
The resolution of this case is, in no way, intended to diminish the understandable fear of the crowd that day or minimize the impact the defendant’s behavior/actions had on the victim.
The defendant in this case is the brother of a Seattle Police officer. Some may try to argue that this factored into or influenced our office’s resolution of this case. That is simply not true. The video evidence in this case is not enough to overcome the self-defense argument that the jury is required to consider. Because we cannot disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, we cannot obtain an Assault in the First-Degree conviction. State law requires prosecutors to bring a case to a jury only when we have a good faith belief that we can prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt in light of any possible defenses that could be raised. We cannot, ethically, bring this case to a jury. This case would have a different outcome if we had the necessary evidence to disprove self-defense.
I understand that for many, this outcome will feel unsatisfying. Some may even disagree with our decision. However, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office must uphold the ethical standards required of us. Our failure to follow the law or meet required ethical standards would only serve to break the trust of the community we serve. Our office has a moral and ethical obligation to follow the law, even when many may find the outcome disappointing.
I want to thank Bridgette Maryman and Lori Bridgewater for their work on this case and for speaking with the victim and witnesses to explain our office’s decision. I have nothing but deep respect for Bridgette and Lori.
If you have questions or concerns about the resolution of this case, I encourage you to reach out to your supervisor or to Bridgette. Thank you for the opportunity to explain the facts and rationale behind our decision in this case.
Leesa
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Definite intentional late Friday press release on this bullshit
I think it’s inappropriate to continue to refer to Fernandez as “the brother of an East Precinct cop.” This fact is irrelevant to the case, and seems to be an effort to indirectly criticize cops, by proxy.
The fact that he drove into a crowd of people, shot somebody, then got ushered protectively into the police station where his brother works seems relevant. Hard to imagine a random citizen receiving such treatment
Exactly. Disoriented, with 2 ammo clips duct taped to his clothes.
I think the context of this case is absolutely appropriate. He would never have been there that day if his brother didn’t work at that station. It was literally his main motivation for the attack.
Furthermore, it speaks to the special treatment he received. He was somehow allowed to delete all of his social media accounts after being arrested, when he should have been locked up behind bars. And now his charges are downgraded, for a violent firearm assault, to a misdemeanor?
His relationship to SPD and that precinct in particular are not irrelevant. Quite the opposite. It was not only his motivation for the crime, but speaks to the system of injustice that led people to take to the streets in the first place.
Fernandez himself made that point permanently relevant.
Let me guess. You’re in the bad apple camp.
The need of a proxy is superfluous given the past decades.
Fernandez identified himself as such to police. It may have been his motive for driving into the crowd, armed with a gun. It’s very relevant to the story.
Thanks for your comments. Your counter-arguments are persuasive and they have changed my mind.
Everyone there that day is lucky he never got to do what he came there to do. They did a great job shutting him down and denying him the chance. The state is going to protect him either way since the demonstrators are their common enemy. That summer I saw neighbors abducted by SPD vans and held in jail only to harass them, caravans of SPD circling the neighborhood sirens blazing just to terrorize citizens. We live in a prison. Get back to work or else.
You live in a different world than I live in.
Yeah, it’s a shame we have courts of law, where you’re required to prove things beyond a reasonable doubt, and prosecutors who actually honor that requirement. Much better if we had citizen tribunals or some other CHOP created device for divining justice from the fog.
“We live in a prison. Get back to work or else.”
This post brought to you by the Association of Unemployed White Guys with Dreadlocks.
Yeah, I was there too and never saw any of that.
It absolutely did happen. Cops were rounding up protestors who weren’t doing anything to be held in jail, that’s why nonprofit bail funding calls were raised. Unnecessary sirens happened as well. Hell, I was walking somewhere through the swedish campus on first hill and there was a van of cops all geared up for no reason since nothing was or had been happening there.
OP is also correct about this guy being protected. He was holding a gun with ammo taped to it, he came into that area ready to shoot, and shoot A LOT. Then he got swarmed and ran crying to cops who coddled him despite that firearm. Makes you wonder if they recognized him because if it had been a protestor approaching just like he had with it I feel it’d have gone much different. The police did start firing tear gas after a woman put a nonthreatening pink umbrella in front of her, feet from an officer, after all, starting one of the worst protest nights.
Y’all can bring up what a clusterfuck CHOP was, which it WAS and proves the point protecting a community requires training and accountability, which the police also lack, but the difference here is CHOP is done and gone, but the police are still here fucking up and getting away with it. It’s idiotic that if we were working a retail job we could be fired for shorting or going over on a till by five bucks, but a police man can run over and kill a college girl and get “suspended” with pay for a few days.
In the fog of a big protest, I don’t doubt the cops picked up some people who may not have been doing the violent things that other “protesters” were doing. But they had bail funds…most got out in a few hours…don’t act like this was some Stasi or Gestapo situation where they were never heard from again.
I will when there were videos of them kneeling on necks of protestors who were protesting the murder of a man who died because a cop kneeled on his neck.
“That summer I saw neighbors abducted by SPD vans and held in jail only to harass them, caravans of SPD circling the neighborhood sirens blazing just to terrorize citizens.”
I seriously doubt your accusation. If it was true, then the media would have reported it at some point, and I have seen no such reporting.
Self defense plain and simple – don’t pull a guy out of his car and you won’t get shot.
He did it deliberately and he had ammo taped to himself, he went there with a purpose then ran away when he was meet with fighters.
Reading the barely coherent single sentence plea, “in his own words,” that I assume his lawyer dictated to him, the best he can come up with is “a disregard for the safety of property?”
Nothing about the people he nearly killed?
Really happy to put the whole sad CHOP/CHAZ era behind us. Those were not good days.
AMEN
Agree. Having lived through it I really don’t care about any of it at this point. There were bad actors on both sides. Top to bottom, side to side, the whole thing was rotten.
Those CHOP/CHAZ had nothing to do with this. The cops being idiots and escalating did though. This guy needs to be locked up a long time.
So now you’re in favor of the carceral system?
When I saw him careening toward the crowd, he looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. A black man doing the same thing to a crowd of white supremacists would be dead or in prison.