The Knife Hid

[from 11/17/10]

Last week the Seattle Times reported that when the police arrived at the scene of the shooting of John T. Williams by Officer Ian Birk in late August, they found John T’s carving knife closed. I feel compelled to spend this column discussing this one small fact and its ramifications.

Actually, I tried to ease this topic off on other Real Change writers, but they were too clever to fall for my tactics. Everyone realizes that, as news goes, this is really just a two-line item. See my opening sentence. The rest is mainly, as I say, ramifications, and reporters don’t much care for ramifications, it turns out. So it got to be one of those, “Wes, you’re not a reporter, you do it” situations.

I have a problem: I feel an obligation to inject humor into everything, because this is supposed to be a humor column, and because I suck even more at non-humor. But finding humor is hard, when you’re fit to spit. Where exactly might the humor be in this situation?

It has to be hiding. Usually, if you don’t see it, it’s because you’re focused in too tightly. It might help me if I reflect on exactly where my outrage comes from.

Within the first two days the Police Department made a number of statements that implied that the shooting was justified. One police spokesman said the wood-carver approached Birk with his carving knife in his hand. This, we all assumed at the time, was based on Birk’s own account.

However, Acting Deputy Chief Nick Metz was also reported to have said that John T William’s carving knife was open. That sort of information would not have needed Birk’s testimony. The knife would have been recovered at the scene. So we, the public, were all led to believe that the knife was open.

We now find out that immediately after the shooting, a police investigator found the knife closed and pictures were taken of it.

There are two possibilities. Mr. Metz knew the knife was found closed and that it quite probably was closed when Williams was shot as it was a kind of locking knife not prone to close itself on a whim. Or, he didn’t know the knife was found closed.

If he knew the knife was found closed, he lied outright.

If he didn’t know the knife was found closed, nevertheless the investigators knew. Surely, as soon as he spoke wrongly about the condition of the knife, the investigators would have told Mr. Metz that he had misspoke, because we all know the police are not evil and don’t engage in mass cover ups.

Therefore it’s pretty certain that around about September 3, Acting Deputy Chief Nick Metz knew that the public had been misled regarding what was known about the state of William’s knife at the time of the shooting. So why did we not find out about having been misled until November 9?

There’s my problem. I’m focused too tightly on the fact of having been misled, and I’m assigning motives. I’m thinking, this Acting Deputy Chief thinks it’s not really a lie if you just don’t take it back when you find out it isn’t true. And this gives me the feeling that the leaders of my police department are personally pleased when they can find clever ways to lie to me, © Dr Wes. Which makes me, © Dr Wes, feel like I’m regarded as dirt.

I’ve found where some humor is! I’ve been growing all this outrage because I’ve been taking this whole thing way too personally! I need to look aside from my own personal feelings.

It’s not me that was shot to death for holding a folded carving knife in one hand and a board in the other, and then made out to be a villainous knife-wielding attacker.

It’s not me that’s since been lied to and regarded as dirt. It’s everybody but me! I don’t even subscribe to the Seattle Times!