(Seattle) "Police shooting: Day of anger, emotion and surprise" (with Photo Gallery/video)

"Protesters march down Fourth Avenue on Wednesday night bearing a message for local police."

Casey McNerthny (seattlepi.com) with Photo Gallery:

Wednesday began with an announcement from King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg that he wouldn't file a charge against Ian Birk, the police officer who fatally shot Native American woodcarver John T. Williams last Aug. 30 on a downtown Seattle street corner.

The prosecutor said after the shooting inquest that he didn't think jurors would believe -- beyond a reasonable doubt -- that Williams acted with malice, and cited a state law which says officers can't be held criminally liable for using deadly force if they acted in good faith and without malice.

That drew criticism from the Williams family attorney and City Councilman Bruce Harrell.

After the charging decision, Police Chief John Diaz said his department's own firearms review board found the shooting unjustified. City Councilman Tim Burgess, himself a former officer, said Birk shouldn't return to patrolling the streets. MORE...

Howie P.S.: The Seattle Times posts this video of the "Protesters march through downtown" (01:13). The Photo Gallery in the seattlepi.com conveys the feeling of the reaction on the streets with greater sensitivity.
"Protesters, including former Q13 Fox photographer Jud Morris, left, hold a banner in front of Seattle City Hall. Morris was fired from his job at Q13 after selling a controversial video of a Seattle police officer using racial comments and kicking a man to a rival station."

Memo to Hizzoner the Mayor: Those folks in the street look like your base.