Seattle Mardi Gras Riots - Reactions

Reactions

The day after the riot, local newspapers carried a picture of a black man with brass knuckles engaged in an assault which came to symbolize the riot. An editorial in The Stranger said the incident was racially motivated and that much of the violence was directed at white civilians. Witnesses said gangs of black youth yelled racially charged slurs and sought white victims. Investigations later showed that roughly 75% of the over 100 suspects were black. Many of the suspects had criminal records and were believed to be affiliated with gangs. Some eyewitnesses said that most of the attackers were black but that race was not a factor in who was victimized. According to the Seattle Weekly shortly after the incident, police did not see the attacks as solely or even predominately racial violence.

Racial issues overshadowed the sexual assaults that took place. One man was charged with forcibly fondling a woman. A photograph of a partially nude woman being groped by some two dozen men while lying topless and on her back won an award from the National Press Photographer Association despite not being previously published in a newspaper.

During the incident, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske ordered the police at the scene not to intervene, instead maintaining a perimeter around the growing violence. The Seattle police force voted a resolution of "no confidence" in Chief Kerlikowske when officers complained of being "held back too long". The City of Seattle acknowledged that the police strategy during the incidents presented a public safety threat, and the City settled with Kime's family for just under $2,000,000. Schell appointed a three member task force panel to investigate the cause of the riots. He instructed them not to discuss the lack of police intervention which the public had been concerned about. Initially task force meetings were closed to the public, but protest forced the city to open them to attendance.

In the wake of the riots, Mayor Paul Schell announced a moratorium on Mardi Gras celebrations in Seattle. Schell lost to Greg Nickels and Mark Sidran in the city's 2001 mayoral primary elections. King County Executive Ron Sims called the Mardi Gras riot and the protests at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting "defining issues" in Schell's failed bid for reelection. Nickels made Kime's death a political issue in his campaign, saying the certificate of death would hang in his office should he become mayor. He kept the pledge upon taking the office. As mayor, Nickels retained Kerlikowske as police chief.

That night, 21 were arrested. Dozens were later questioned by police after being identified through the use of videotape, photographs, and reports from eyewitnesses. The man photographed and videotaped wearing brass knuckles and beating people, Aaron Slaughter, was sentenced to three years in prison for assaults on a woman and two men. It ran concurrently with his nine-month sentence received for rendering criminal assistance during a brawl less than three months later.

A 17-year-old, Jerell Thomas, was found guilty in the death of Kime after jurors saw video footage of Thomas hitting Kime in the head three times. He was also convicted of two counts of second-degree assault for attacking two other men with a skateboard. He originally received a 15-year sentence, but it was overturned by the state's Supreme Court when it threw out the law that covered his crime. In 2006, Thomas avoided a new trial and plead guilty to second-degree manslaughter. He received a 10-year sentence. In December 2009, Thomas was released from prison early. He soon reoffended.

On the day after the Mardi Gras riots, Seattle experienced the 6.8 M_w earthquake, the worst in 37 years. Its scale caused people to refocus their attention on earthquake recovery and away from the violence. Outside the Seattle area, the incidents attracted little media attention and have largely been forgotten. In 2011, local bars decided to reattempt Mardi Gras celebrations in Pioneer Square. Smaller Mardi Gras events had been held but it was the first to consist of a collaboration between multiple bars. Another group had considered organizing an event but the permitting process was too restrictive.