The resignation of Seattle police Chief Shon Barnes on Thursday has rattled members of the city’s Black community, who say the move erodes confidence in Mayor Katie Wilson’s leadership and undermines progress made to improve the department and public safety.
On Thursday morning, amid rumors Wilson had asked Barnes to resign from his position, Black community leaders rallied at City Hall to defend the police chief. City officials have been heavily criticized for a lack of communication immediately following the Seattle Center shooting last Sunday that left three dead and at least four injured, and Barnes faced additional scrutiny from some for being out of town the day of the shooting.
It was a striking tableau — some of Seattle's most prominent Black religious heads, community organizers and nonprofit executives quickly mobilizing to urge Wilson to reverse her decision and keep in place one of the few Black leaders in her administration. The mayor then met privately with some of the leaders before Barnes eventually resigned later the same day.
“How often have you seen the Black community stand up for a police officer?” asked Michelle Merriweather, president and CEO at Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. “That should resonate.”
The long and fraught relationship between Black residents and law enforcement in this country — driven by disparate police stops, disproportionate use of force, festering systemic racism and deep mistrust — remains a persistent challenge for Seattle leaders to address. Allegations of racial bias and discrimination exist even within the police force.
Many of those racial tensions boiled over locally during protests in 2020 after George Floyd's murder by a Minneapolis police officer, most visibly in the form of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest. CHOP was dismantled, but much of the anger and debate over public safety and the role of law enforcement endures. Less than a year ago, a judge ended federal oversight of the Police Department, which began in 2012 after findings of widespread use-of-force abuses and biased policing.
Despite lingering suspicion in the Black community toward the Seattle Police Department and its practices, some community leaders say things were turning a corner with Barnes, who became chief in January 2025. They point to dropping crime rates, fewer homicides and the successful management of World Cup festivities.
Many have been left frustrated that the Seattle Center mass shooting received an outpouring of media attention, political will and swift accountability rarely seen when gunfire tears through Seattle’s Black communities. Some say the mayor’s push to see Barnes resign is a rash decision that devalues the opinions of those most impacted by crime and violence in Seattle.
“Seattle’s Police Department has been notorious for just not understanding the Black community, and I’m saying with Chief Barnes, we were moving in the right direction,” said Bishop Reggie Witherspoon of the Central District's Mount Calvary Christian Center, who was at the rally.
The police chief’s resignation comes after a firestorm of criticism lobbed at Wilson and Barnes for leaving residents in the dark for hours last Sunday about whether an active shooter was loose. Wilson’s office also put out erroneous information during that time about how many people were in custody.
Barnes was at the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives conference in Dallas at the time of the shooting. Critics scrutinized his absence, arguing he had previously been out of town during major shootings and protests. Barnes, who flew overnight to get back by Monday morning, then had a heated exchange with a reporter who asked about reports he spends many weekends visiting family in Chicago.
On Thursday, Wilson named Seattle police Deputy Chief Andre Sayles, who is also Black, as interim police chief. The search for a permanent chief is underway.
In an open letter posted online Friday, Barnes highlighted declining crime levels and increased community engagement, writing, I’m incredibly proud of what we accomplished, but I’m even more proud of how we accomplished it. We accomplished it together."
During a Friday news conference, Wilson did not explicitly say why she asked Barnes to resign, but hinted at her reasons. She said she hopes the new permanent chief will be “consistently present in Seattle" and keep travel to “an appropriate minimum, and can “practice clear communication in stressful situations.”
Wilson's office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
'Present when I needed him'
Sheley Secrest, president of the state NAACP, said blame for communication issues around the mass shooting falls squarely on Wilson’s shoulders.
“It definitely feels like a scapegoat,” Secrest said of Barnes' resignation.
Turmoil over Barnes’ departure has split open preexisting fissures between Black community leaders and Wilson’s office, Secrest said. Under previous administrations, including those of Jenny Durkan and Bruce Harrell, the NAACP and the mayor’s office have historically had a “two-way line of communication for decisions that impact the Black community,” Secrest said.
“Normally, the mayor will reach out to some of the leaders and say, ‘This is what we’re doing. What are your thoughts?‘” Secrest said. “I may not always agree with whatever the feedback is, but at least there is open communication. There’s transparency. This mayor, not so much.”
Black community leaders say the sudden exit is particularly startling given Barnes' performance. Crime across Seattle fell 18% in 2025, Secrest said, Barnes' first year on the job, compared with 2024. There were no homicides reported in June this year — the first time it’s happened in more than half a century. Other U.S. cities also saw a downward trend in crime last year.
Leaders say Barnes' work in Seattle has been distinguished by the inroads he’s made specifically with Black residents, including communities disproportionately impacted by gun violence.
At the start of the summer, Secrest said Barnes met with several community violence intervention groups — trusted people who can help mediate conflicts or connect families with support — to learn more about how Seattle police could support violence prevention efforts. She said Barnes understood their methods immediately and wanted to find ways to work together.
“(His approach was) ‘Look, we understand the role that you guys are playing. You guys are dealing with some gang leaders. Let’s all try to get them to reach their hearts before they reach for a handgun,’” Secrest said.
The Rev. Leslie D. Braxton, senior pastor of New Beginnings Christian Fellowship in Kent, said Barnes regularly met with Black clergy groups, visited community centers serving Black residents and worked with ex-offender programs.
“There is no more tortured relationship in society than between police and the Black community,” Braxton said. “To create a good relationship requires a lot of hard work. He has put in that work.”
Angela Griffin, CEO of Byrd Barr Place, one of Seattle’s oldest social service agencies serving Black residents, said she did not feel the argument that Barnes was out of state too often holds water.
“He wasn't distant and abstract from the work that we're doing in our organization,” she said. “We don't see him as absent. I didn't see him as living in another state. … He was present when I needed him.”
Black community leaders were not the only ones backing Barnes. He also had the support of several City Council members, who said they were not informed of Wilson's decision until it was publicly announced, and the Downtown Seattle Association.
'False sense of resolution'
Some Black community members say the uproar surrounding Barnes’ actions and resignation has distracted city officials from addressing the root causes of gun violence in Seattle, including systemic poverty and homelessness.
“A spectacle is being made, and when a spectacle is being made, it’s easier to divert people’s attention from actually addressing the system,” said Moni Tep, decriminalization director at Lavender Rights Project, a Seattle-based advocacy group focused on the rights and dignity of Black gender-diverse people.
“If we just ask for folks to resign but not address the actual policing happening in the city, we’re only creating a false sense of resolution,” Tep continued.
Historically, Black neighborhoods in South Seattle like the Central District and Rainier Valley have borne the brunt of youth gun violence in Seattle, said Griffin of Byrd Barr Place.
Last year, about 48% of gun violence victims in King County were Black, despite Black residents making up only about 6% of the county population. Among the 51 people shot in the first quarter of 2026 — nine died, and 42 were injured — roughly 2 out of 3 were Black, according to county data. Seattle accounted for about half of overall shots fired.
Griffin said she and others are frustrated that the impacts of youth gun violence in marginalized communities often go overlooked, while Sunday’s shooting at Seattle Center spurs political action and media attention.
“All of the incidents should get the same level of attention in our city and in our community,” Griffin said. “The majority of those incidents are with Black children and devastating Black families. It's not OK that our Black police chief becomes the fall guy.”
The former chief brought a “sensitivity” to addressing racism and discrimination, said former Washington state Rep. Dawn Mason, reforming a department plagued by numerous allegations of race-based discrimination within its ranks.
The city agreed to pay $750,000 to Black veteran detective Denise “Cookie” Bouldin in March after she filed a lawsuit alleging she faced daily discrimination. Two Black officers sued the city in April 2025 alleging they were harassed and discriminated against based on race, and video released in 2023 showed a mock tombstone marking the death of a young Black man killed by Seattle police in a precinct break room alongside a “Trump 2020” flag.
Barnes’ departure echoes former police Chief Carmen Best’s abrupt retirement in 2020 soon after racial justice protests against police brutality and systemic racism.
The first Black woman to lead the city’s police force, Best said at the time she left after feeling disrespected by City Council efforts to slash the police budget and lay off officers — cuts that would primarily impact newer hires who are more likely to be officers of color.
With Barnes’ resignation, some Black community leaders question what qualified candidate would choose to work in Seattle.
“When our best is not good enough, what is it that you want?” Mason asked.
Material from The Seattle Times archives was used in this report.
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