Will Officer Ian Birk face charges? [Editorial]

If readers haven’t yet viewed the video of carver John T. Williams’ shooting death at the hands of a Seattle police officer, be forewarned, it’s jaw-dropping in the most profound way. Not in the graphic nature of a Tarantino movie, because there is no blood. We don’t even see Officer Ian Birk unholster his gun, nor do we see him fire five rounds from his police revolver into Williams’ small frame.

The stunning thing about it is how quickly a man can go from enjoying the sunshine of an end–of–summer day to being dead, and how quickly a man can decide to end another’s life—mere seconds from the time that Birk exits his police vehicle, calls out to Williams, who was walking away from the officer along the sidewalk, to shots ringing out on a Seattle street.

The inquest into Williams Aug. 30, 2010 death concluded in January, and the results are stunning, if not a little confusing. The jury, which sat day after day listening to the testimony from both sides of the event, came back split on a couple of important points. Still, when one considers that juries typically come back in situations of police shootings solidly on the side of police action, Ian Birk, who before the results hoped to remain an officer of the law, must now be worried, not only for his career, but for a future facing criminal charges.

If you’re unfamiliar with the story of John T. Williams, it is on its face a simple tale. A street person who is Native and a wood carver is walking along with a block of wood cradled in his arm and a legal carving knife in his hand. One can see from the dashboard camera of an approaching police vehicle that the carver is touching up his carving as he crosses at the intersection and steps up onto the curb and goes out of view.

The police officer, Birk, puts his car in park and, with his hand resting atop his holstered gun, walks in the direction of the carver. “Hey… hey,” we can see him call out to Williams before Birk walks out of the camera’s view. “Hey,” we hear. “Put the knife down. Put the knife down. Put the knife down,” we hear Birk say.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

That’s it.

Or is it? Not according to Birk who says that in the space of those few seconds he was so threatened by Williams’ demeanor that his only recourse was to take the carver’s life.

Now, the jury of the inquest is not so sure what to make of this event. Here are the questions they were charged with answering:

1. On Aug. 30, 2010, did Seattle Police Officer Ian Birk observe John T. Williams crossing the street?
The jurors’ answer to that was unanimous. Yes.

2. Was John T. Williams holding an open knife at the time he was first observed by Officer Birk? Again, a unanimous yes.

3. Did Officer Birk get out of his patrol car to contact John T. Williams?
Yes, the eight jurors responded.

4. Did Officer Birk gesture to John T. Williams to come back to Officer Birk’s location?
Seven said yes, and one juror didn’t know.

5. Did John T. Williams have a knife in his hand when Officer Birk contacted him?
Again eight said yes.

6. Did Officer Birk order John T. Williams to put the knife down? And 6 a.) Did Officer Birk order John T. Williams to put the knife down more than once?
Yes times eight to both questions.
Here’s where the jury began its divide.

6b: Did John T. Williams have sufficient time to put the knife down after Officer Birk’s order?
One juror said yes. Four said no, and three just didn’t know.

6c: Did John T. Williams try to put the knife down after Officer Birk’s order?
Eight said they did not know.

6d: Did John T. Williams put the knife down before Officer Birk began to fire his weapon?
Again eight jurors said this was unknown.

7. Was the front of John T. Williams’ upper body partially turned towards Officer Birk when Officer Birk began to fire his weapon?
Two said yes. Five said no and one did not know.
(A King County medical examiner’s autopsy report shows that Williams was shot four times in his side, indicating that the carver was not facing Birk when the officer opened fire.)

7a: If no, was John T. Williams turning towards Officer Birk when Officer Birk fired his weapon?
Five said yes.

8. Did Officer Birk fire his weapon at John T. Williams on August 30, 2010? Yes, said all.

9. When Officer Birk fired his weapon, did John T. Williams have a knife in his hand?
Yes, again.

9a: If yes, was John T. Williams’ knife blade open when Officer Birk fired his weapon?
Four said no, and four did not know.

10. Did Officer Birk believe that John T. Williams posed an imminent threat of serious physical harm to Officer Birk at the time Officer Birk fired his weapon?
Four said yes, and four did not know.

11. Based on the information available at the time Officer Birk fired his weapon, did John T. Williams then pose an imminent threat of serious physical harm to Officer Birk?
One juror said yes. Four jurors said no. And three did not know.

12. Did John T. Williams die in King County, Washington on August 30, 2010?
Well, the answer to this was most certainly yes.

13. Did John T. Williams die from the gunshot wounds caused by Officer Birk?
Oh, yes.

John T. Williams was 51.
R.I.P.

Windspeaker