u/MissHalfgone

I'll start. I live in Seattle and a city right on the outskirts, Skyway, opened a Black Panther Party Park in March. About a week later the county announced they were renaming Cesar Chavez park because of the accusations that came out about him committing sexual assault. Yet we don't have to take the word of an accuser that there were high profile BPP members that committed sexual assault. All you have to do is read Eldridge Cleaver's autobiography Soul on Ice where he talks about being a serial rapist first of black women than of white women. And being a human trafficker.

Then there is the claim that he ordered the torture murder of Alex Rackley.

Then there is Huey Newton murdering a 17-year-old prostitute for calling him baby. The murder of volunteer Betty Van Patter which turned left-wing activist David Horowitz into a right wing activist.

Then there's killing a couple cops. Robbing some banks.

But of course all of this is excused because "they gave poor kids free breakfast". In Seattle they are also given credit for starting the first, and still operating, black health clinic. While they certainly pressured the city to fund this Clinic, it's dishonest to say they started it, since they had no money or skills to operate it. Taxpayers funded it, and many health professionals, many of them white, donated their time and expertise.

As far as the free breakfast. The Black Panthers extorted from businesses and this is true in Seattle just like it is nationwide. They did so under threats of violence. I'm cynical of how this claim is exploited because I've seen a pattern in my life of activists doing seriously shady things and then weaponizing the poor, elderly, minorities to claim that they were being persecuted for just helping these needy people.

So I tend to think that the free breakfast program gave them cover to commit crimes such as extortion, robbery and so on and make themselves out to be like Robin Hood. There's this narrative that some conservative politicians said they were the biggest danger in the US simply because they were giving hungry kids food. But it's very well established they use their breakfast program to promote their propaganda and make themselves seem sympathetic to the public. And to introduce people to far left black ethno nationalist politics. And to present themselves as kind and caring when their behavior was often exceedingly violent and disturbing. Their 10-point program of demands ranges from unrealistic to insane.

It isn't much different than if the KKK started a breakfast program for poor children in which they tried to instill in them the beliefs of the group along with trying to manipulate public opinion through their charity.

Now in addition to that park Seattle earmarked $900,000 funding a Black Panther Museum located at the home of the two brothers who founded the local chapter, a BPP Interpretive Center just opened, and a wall mural commemorating the BPP (including some members who are involved in the behavior I mentioned above) recently became a protected historic landmark.

That Interpretive Center for instance makes claims that they got their start by protecting black and Asian students from knife-wielding White mobs at a school. Historical documents show there was rumors to the effect that were quickly shown to be untrue. There was a fight between a black and white student that does not appear to be racial in nature. There is no indication a knife was involved. And the white student was suspended quickly ( the website claims administration did nothing).

I feel this follows certain trajectories we saw during the BLM era. There were some claims that were true and really horrible. There were many that were mostly or entirely fiction though. And if we were living in another era where we did not have such access to differing opinions we would very likely believe that Mike Brown was brutally murdered by a racist cop while screaming "don't shoot". We would also believe that Trayvon Martin was a little child who was walking back from the store and some crazed white racist saw a black male in a hoodie and just decided to take him out.

It is true that the police have covered up instances of serious police brutality. It is true that there are times when the police have acted like violent criminals themselves, sometimes racially motivated and others not. But none of this changes the fact that a lot of their detractors use the understandable lack of trust people have of the police to encourage having blind trust towards the groups who vilify the police who themselves often do not have any credibility either.

I think we see this with a lot of conflicts. That one side points to the other as being corrupt and states that they are noble because they're fighting against that corrupt group. What they are saying might be mostly true but it doesn't stop the fact that the group pointing their finger is not more credible than those they're pointing the finger at. Although in many cases, clearly one party has government power behind them and the other doesn't. But I think there is really good evidence to believe that if the Black Panther Party had power of the cops we would not have a less corrupt or oppressive system.

Sorry for all the meandering here.

It feels like nature is healing. But the best part an increase in wildlife. Particularly ducks. Particularly mallards. And then there's a few seagulls including one with a super crooked face. And then there's the pigeons that roost at night on top of that structure in front of the pond. It feels like we've created a really nurturing habitat for humans and some wildlife too.

A few days ago I posted about an email Seattle Central college professor David Quintero sent to faculty and staff.

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https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/s/Ya0I3sO997

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These are some recent posts from his social media.

And no, it's not Han Tran this time.

For some background, in September 2024 commissioner Han Tran and Jeff Sbaih introduced a resolution of solidarity with Muslims, Arabs and Palestinians in Washington State. There was a request for a similar statement due to the high hate crimes against Jews in the region.

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In a March 2025 a commissioner broke into a tangent objecting to this with a long diatribe of hostility in which some commissioners nodded their head in agreement.

He claimed it was a demand for special treatment despite the fact that 6 months earlier there was one for these other groups mentioned above. And that there were many past resolutions for other groups. Currently the commission is working on resolutions for Iranians and Somalians in Washington state. This same commissioner has no objection.

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For reference here are the two resolutions. You'll notice that the resolution against anti-Semitism spends half the time condemning Israel and Zionism unlike the one for the three other groups.

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https://www.hum.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/publications/Resolutions/WA%20HUM%20Resolution%20in%20Solidarity%20with%20Palestinian%2C%20Arab-American%2C%20and%20Muslim%20Communities\_Adopted%20September%2026%2C%202024%28V.2%29.pdf

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https://www.hum.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/Resolutions/WA%20Human%20Rights%20Commission%20Resolution%20Condemning%20Antisemitism.pdf

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Link to full video excepted above: https://youtu.be/IF5yyZaB1V8?si=yTeCt4F7CLhBSZ2z

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In 2006, Seattle resident Mary Cooper, 56, and her daughter Susanna Stodden, 27,  planned a Day hike. Their original hiking destination still was covered with snowfall so they looked for another destination and decided on Pinnacle Lake in Snohomish County instead.

Their bodies were found by hikers later that day, both shot in the head. Investigators say it appeared to be a calculated ambush, with no known signs of robbery or sexual assault.

The trailhead where Cooper and Stodden began their hike is remote and difficult to access. It takes about 6 miles up a treacherous road to get to the trailhead.

Shell casings were recovered from the scene, helping investigators identify the potential make and model of the firearm. That information, however, has not been released to the public.

A partial male DNA profile was recovered during Susanna Stodden’s autopsy. While that DNA has not led to a suspect, it remains one of the few tangible clues.

David Stodden, Mary’s husband and Susanna’s father, went home that evening and was greeted by detectives with the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office who told him that his wife and daughter were dead.

Early in the investigation, Stodden was considered a person of interest. He has since passed multiple polygraph tests, had a confirmed alibi, and was cleared as a suspect.

He took two polygraph tests whose results were inconclusive. In 2018 he took his third polygraph and passed the Sheriff's Office announced he was cleared in the case.

Detectives are hopeful that advancements in forensic science may provide new leads. “We have some science, and we are going to re-examine some things that were never tested,” Bilyeu said.

“We may lose time to prosecute somebody. We may lose time to put someone away in prison. But we never lose the time to tell a family the answers they’ve been seeking.”

https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/unsolved/19-years-snohomish-county-trail-murders-unsolved-northwest-mary-cooper-susanna-stodden/281-358cebaf-b8d9-48b1-ae7c-7b1893eaa107

https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/david-stodden-passes-3rd-polygraph-test-in-unsolved-murders-of-wife-and-daughter/281-603049836