Tag Archives: Renton Residents For Change

Voices

OPINION: Mayors’ Coalition for Community Safety Should Examine Own Police Departments

by Ali Cohen

At the close of 2021, the mayors of Auburn, Renton, and Kent met privately to discuss community safety and violence affecting south King County. Unfortunately, of all the initiatives and meetings that have since come from this coalition, none has publicly addressed the personal and systemic violence coming from their very own police departments.

A quick Google search will provide details on Auburn police officer Jeffrey Nelson killing Jesse Sarey while Jesse was unarmed and experiencing a mental health crisis, as well as a paper trail of Nelson’s escalating misconduct without meaningful intervention. Instead, he won a “medal of valor” for a fatal encounter with Isaiah Obet in 2017. Obet’s family challenged the City of Auburn through a lawsuit; the city settled for $1.25 million in response. 

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News

Will Local Governments Reflect the Changing Demographics of South King County?

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by Phil Manzano

When talking about his run for Renton City Council, Joseph Todd’s voice breaks slightly and wavers. “I’m sorry, I get a little emotional here.”

He recalls George Floyd’s death a year ago, which sparked a worldwide racial reckoning.

“When we saw a man get murdered in daylight, it begins to bring home, for real, for real, that these systems are trying to kill you,” Todd said. “So that’s why when we created the Renton Residents for Change, it was really all about, ‘We have to get ahead of this.’”

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News

Families and Community Members Call for Justice for People Killed by Police

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by Guy Oron

South King County community members protested against police violence this past Saturday, April 24. Flanked by a car brigade and bike patrol, dozens of demonstrators marched in the rain along South Grady Way from Southcenter Mall in Tukwila to Renton City Hall, where they held a rally.

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Community

Renton Residents For Change Seeks City’s Active Commitment to Anti-Racism

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by Carolyn Bick

Joseph Todd has been pulled over six times in as many months this year. Every time he’s pulled over, he says, the law enforcement officer inevitably asks the same question.

“He pulls me over, pulls me to the side, and the first thing out of his mouth is, ‘Is this your car?’ And my answer, once again [is], ‘Yeah, it is,’” Todd recalled, describing his most recent interaction with a state trooper.

Todd, a Black man, is the City of Tukwila’s Chief Information Officer, but he lives in Renton. Todd said he doesn’t speed, and he certainly wasn’t guilty of what the officer accused him of doing most recently: driving without a seat belt on.

“[After he pulled me over,] I took my seat belt off so I could reach over and get my registration and everything out of the glove compartment, and then he proceeds to tell me he saw my seat belt flapping in the wind,” Todd said. “In my car, if my seat belt isn’t on, it pulls itself back into the wall of the vehicle.”

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