Friends and family protest Seattle cops’ killing of mother of three

Charleena Lyles

Two days after the June 16 acquittal of the cop who murdered Philando Castile in Minnesota, Seattle cops murdered a Black mother of three in her own home. The June 18 shooting of Charleena Lyles, who was pregnant, was in front of her children.

A gathering of family and friends outside Lyles’ home protested her murder that very day.

Lyles had called the cops to report a burglary in her home. Asking for help, she was instead gunned down.

Her relatives have stated that she had recently had some mental health issues and that race was also an issue. Two white cops shot her from close range with five to seven bullets.

The Lyles’ family was living in housing for formerly homeless families in Magnuson Park. Seattle, especially in the Black community, faces a huge gentrification crisis leading to homelessness. Since the killing of Lyles, many people are saying that the social service system failed her and that any intervention allegedly on her behalf should have come with a mental health specialist, along with other social services, not by two racist cops.

A network of family and friends who loved and respected Lyles, including the Social Equality Caucus of the Seattle Education Association, held a vigil and press conference outside the Lyles’ home on June 20. Many voiced their outrage and called for justice.

City Councilwoman Kshama Sawant, a member of the NAACP and Socialist Alternative, demanded a town hall meeting where the Lyles family can voice their concerns and demand for justice from the police. Word came during the rally that the City Council had agreed to that demand.

Then the Lyles family led the crowd, which had swelled to well over 1,000 people, on a three-mile march to the Montlake Bridge. They chanted, “Charleena! Say Her Name!” At the bridge, cops blocked the way. When the crowd confronted them, the city raised the drawspan of the bridge to shut down its own street to block the march.

Jim McMahan

Share
Published by
Jim McMahan

Recent Posts

NATO and the EU are pushing Europeans toward war

Raposo is a Portuguese Marxist analyst, editor of the web magazine jornalmudardevida.net, where this article…

July 25, 2025

Why ouster of U.S. occupation forces from West Asia is key to lasting peace and stability

By Alireza Salehi The following commentary first appeared on the Iranian-based Press TV at tinyurl.com/53hdhskk.…

July 25, 2025

From Palestine to Turtle Island: Smash the capitalists’ settler states! Part 2

This is Part Two of a series based on a talk given at a national…

July 25, 2025

Educators for Palestine claims victory against racism and hate, despite NEA board decision

Educators for Palestine released the following news release on July 19, 2025.  Washington, D.C. Educators…

July 24, 2025

Palestinian, Lebanese resistance hails order to release Georges Abdallah

On July 17, a court in France ordered the release of Georges Abdallah, a Lebanese…

July 24, 2025

Yemeni leader denounces Israeli aggression on Syria

The following are highlights from a speech given by Yemen’s Ansarallah Commander Sayyed Abdul-Malik Badr…

July 24, 2025