“Woke” Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has forced out her city’s black police chief after blaming him for a shooting critics say is her fault.
Last Sunday, gunfire erupted outside the Seattle Center Armory during the Bite of Seattle festival. Three people were killed and four hospitalized.
At the time of the shooting, then-Police Chief Shon Barnes was in Dallas attending the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives’ annual conference, according to Fox News.
At least five hours after the shooting, Police Assistant Chief Tyrone Davis finally held a public hearing about the shooting. This delay between the shooting and the first public hearing prompted criticism.
Wilson lost her cool when addressing some of the criticism during a Monday press conference alongside Davis:
🚨Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson loses cool at Monday presser when confronted on why the five-hour delay on communicating details of Seattle Center shooting; city staff abruptly ends presser.
Wilson denies that Gov. Ferguson’s office delayed Sunday’s presser for photo op.… pic.twitter.com/Hu7RcAx2s8
— Lynnwood Times (@LynnwoodTimes) July 27, 2026
Davis, for his part, defended his absence.
“I wish that I had a crystal ball, and we could schedule gun violence, but we can’t,” he said.
The following day, Wilson announced that Barnes had resigned and that she’d be appointing a new police chief. According to ABC News, Barnes subsequently released a statement through his attorney announcing that Wilson had explicitly requested his resignation and it’d “surprised” him.
Despite being surprised, Barnes said he “believes this is the best path forward for the city, which is still reeling from the shock and pain caused by the tragic events at the Seattle Center.”
“The city’s focus should rightfully be on the investigation of the tragic events at the Seattle Center, justice for the victims, and healing the city from a senseless act of gun violence,” his statement continued. “I want to emphasize that it has been one of the greatest honors to lead the Seattle Police Department and to serve the citizens of the City of Seattle.”
Critics say that Wilson scapegoated Barnes. According to Seattle radio show host Ari Hoffman, Wilson made “it seem like SPD [the Seattle Police Department] [was] at fault for the 5-hour delay in getting information out the night of the Bite of Seattle shooting.”
“It was HER office that was waiting on ‘dignitaries,'” Hoffman wrote in a tweet.
Katie Wilson is a truly awful person
In this video about Shon Barnes being forced to resign, she makes it seem like SPD is at fault for the 5-hour delay in getting information out the night of the Bite of Seattle shooting. It was HER office that was waiting on “dignitaries” pic.twitter.com/yE5lvSJ3eb
— Ari Hoffman (@thehoffather) July 31, 2026
Investigative journalist Andy Ngo has made a similar accusation.
“Forcing Barnes out appears to be a strategy to place blame on him for how city officials mishandled the response to the deadly food festival mass shooting,” he wrote in a tweet Thursday.
Some local officials have since begun to circle the wagons around Barnes.
“After the Seattle Center shooting, our focus should be on the lives lost and how we can address gun violence in our city. Tackling these crises and creating a safer Seattle requires strong, stable leadership,” Seattle City Council President Joy Hollingsworth wrote in a joint statement with several other councilmembers.
“When communities are grieving, major decisions should be made with great deliberation; making a significant leadership change in this moment puts our city in a precarious situation. Having cycled through four police chiefs in just two and a half years, our priority must be stability, not further disruption,” she added.
However, local station KING reported this week that the Seattle police have in the past received 60 civilian complaints against Barnes, including two filed just this week over his tense encounter with a reporter:
DEI Seattle Police Chief Shon Barnes appeared to want to fight a journalist after he was asked about not being in the state often for work. It was learned that Barnes was in Dallas, Texas when the mass sh—ting happened.
The press conference was delayed for over five hours after… pic.twitter.com/WliS4CuKEe
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) July 27, 2026
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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