New Videos Recast 16-Year-Old's 2020 CHOP Death as Protest Security Killing
Updated
Updated · NPR · Aug 2
New Videos Recast 16-Year-Old's 2020 CHOP Death as Protest Security Killing
2 articles · Updated · NPR · Aug 2
Summary
More than a dozen videos reviewed in an 18-month Seattle Times, KUOW and NPR investigation offer the fullest reconstruction yet of the 2020 Seattle protest shooting that killed Antonio Mays Jr.
The footage and reporting show the 16-year-old, who came to join the racial justice protests, was treated as a threat by armed people providing CHOP security in a police-abandoned zone.
That account undercuts the long-running self-defense narrative and aligns with a new witness claim that security members fired at Mays Jr.'s crashed Jeep at close range; no guns were found in the vehicle.
Police stayed away from the disturbed crime scene for hours after the June 29, 2020 killing, and no one has been charged, leaving the case a lasting test of accountability around the CHOP protest zone.
What really happened in the chaotic moments before a 16-year-old was fatally shot point-blank inside a crashed Jeep?
Six years after a teen was executed in a protest zone, why does the shooter remain free despite a massive civil payout?
Seattle’s $30.5 Million CHOP Verdict: Emergency Response Failures, Legal Fallout, and the Unsolved Killing of Antonio Mays Jr.
Overview
In June 2020, Seattle abandoned its East Precinct, allowing the CHOP zone to form under self-policing by unregulated volunteers and armed groups. A series of shootings, including the deaths of Horace Lorenzo Anderson and Antonio Mays Jr., exposed the dangers of this model and the city's failure to provide emergency services due to poor communication between police and fire departments. These tragedies led to political pressure to dismantle CHOP, major legal battles, and a record $30.5 million verdict against the city. The fallout drove reforms in emergency protocols and state law, highlighting the risks of withdrawing public safety and the need for government accountability.