The Associated Press reported, “An inquest jury found Wednesday that two Seattle police officers were justified in fatally shooting a mentally unstable, pregnant, Black mother of four children inside her apartment when she menaced them with knives in 2017.

The six King County coroner’s inquest jurors unanimously determined that officers Jason Anderson and Steven McNew, who are white, had no reasonable alternative to using deadly force. The findings drew an angry outburst from Charleena Lyles’ father, who shouted profanities and yelled, “You killed my daughter!” [MORE]

What massa media is not explaining is that an inquest is simply an administrative, fact-finding inquiry into the circumstances of a death. It is conducted by a County Coroner - not a court. No one can be found guilty or liable. [MORE] The inquest takes place before a panel (or jury) of 4 to 6 people and evidence is presented. At the end of the process the prosecutor still has discretion to file charges or not.

King County, Washington (which includes “progressive” Seattle) opted to make inquests mandatory in all deaths involving law enforcement - but it was really a way to pass the buck because prosecutions of police for killings in Washington never, ever occur. None are ever charged in Washington because in 1986, the state passed legislation saying officers cannot face prosecution for killing someone in the line of duty unless they acted with “malice” and “evil intent”. Wash. Rev. Code 9A.16.040 states:

(3) A public officer covered by subsection (1)(a) of this section shall not be held criminally liable for using deadly force without malice and with a good faith belief that such act is justifiable pursuant to this section.

(4) A peace officer shall not be held criminally liable for using deadly force in good faith, where "good faith" is an objective standard which shall consider all the facts, circumstances, and information known to the officer at the time to determine whether a similarly situated reasonable officer would have believed that the use of deadly force was necessary to prevent death or serious physical harm to the officer or another individual.

Wash. Rev. Code 9A.16.040 Justifiable homicide or use of deadly force by public officer, peace officer, person aiding-Good faith standard (Revised Code of Washington (2022 Edition))

Wash. Rev. Code 9A.04.110 defines “malice” as

"Malice" and "maliciously" shall import an evil intent, wish, or design to vex, annoy, or injure another person. Malice may be inferred from an act done in willful disregard of the rights of another, or an act wrongfully done without just cause or excuse, or an act or omission of duty betraying a willful disregard of social duty;...

Wash. Rev. Code 9A.04.110 Definitions (Revised Code of Washington (2022 Edition))

Again, in Washington, police are never charged or convicted. Out of 213 police killings in a 10-year-period, only one officer was even charged, according to a Seattle Times investigation. “It’s the worst law in the nation,” said André Taylor, a police reform activist whose brother was killed by police last year. “It can embolden officers. They feel they have this special immunity. They don’t want to be responsible or accountable to nobody.” Taylor explained, the easiest way to get away with murder in Washington state is to put on a police uniform. [MORE]

And the white cops, prosecutors, coroners and media all knew the 2 white cops who murdered Charleena Lyles would never be charged. Nevertheless said white liberals went on and on about the above the meaningless bullshit inquest process. FUNKTIONARY describes such fuckery as hoaxing or The Niggarmarole, “an experience that you allow others to put you through when you think you’ve been left with nothing else to do. The only performance happening in a niggamarole is purely theatrical—all for show.”

Such is nature of the criminal justice in the lex-icon. That is, the legal system produces nothing but the appearance of justice. The [white] 'powers that be' go through great effort to produce this show of something called “fairness” and the court's emphasis on “procedural due process.” At the end of this Niggarmarole process people are exhausted or feel like they have had a substantive experience, like a dog chasing its tail or a heavy load of clothing run thru the laundry without soap. Said exhaustion makes you feel like you participated in democracy where none exists.

Pregnant Black mother of four children, Charleena Lyles, was shot and killed in her home by white police officers in 2017. In December 2021 the city of Seattle reached a settlement in the amount of $3.5 million in the late mother’s wrongful-death lawsuit.

According to the Seattle Times, the settlement was reached Monday (Nov. 30), voiding the need for a trial in February 2022.

After investigating itself, the Force Review Board, a panel of Seattle Police Department personnel, determined in a unanimous vote that the controversial shooting was consistent with police training. The analysis, released on December 8, 2017 details the factors considered for the vote, though it does not provide any recommendations to chance policy or training to prevent future incidents. [MORE]

Officers Jason Anderson and Steven McNew fired at Lyles, a 30-year-old mother of four, when she allegedly lunged at them with knives she had been concealing in her coat pockets. The pair had been responding to her 911 call about a burglary in her apartment. 

The interaction began calmly, as Lyles informed police of an open door and allegedly stolen Xbox.  Audio of the incident then turned to a child crying and Lyles cursing at the officers. Police reported that there were three children in the apartment.

After surveying Lyles’s home, Anderson and McNew were jotting down their report when she allegedly pulled out two knives and started to come at Anderson, who yelled for her to get back and pulled out his gun. The woman, who was 5-foot-3 and 100 pounds, then turned toward McNew. The officers told authorities McNew was trapped in a dead-end kitchen galley as she brandished the pair of knives in her hands. The white cops apparently are more than two times her size.

McNew told investigators he instructed Anderson to pull out a Taser, but he didn’t have it on him because its battery had died, the report said. As Lyles moved toward McNew, both officers independently decided to fire their guns—McNew fired three rounds and Anderson fired four.

Lyles fell to the ground and her infant child, who had been crawling around in the living room, climbed onto her back, while her toddler sat in the living room. She was later found to be 14 to 15 weeks pregnant.

McNew—who had a baton—told investigators he “didn’t feel there was any other reasonable alternative” to shooting Lyles and didn’t use his baton because there wasn’t enough space to properly use it.

Anderson said he wouldn’t have used his Taser even if he had it because he was trained to use lethal force when faced with a knife attack. He also had pepper spray on him, but said he didn’t employ it because it would be “tactically counterproductive” and could get in the officers’ eyes, opening them up to attack, the board found.

Lyles was documented for mental health issues that the officers were aware of before they shot her in the confines of her apartment kitchen. Seattle Times reports she had called Seattle police 23 times in the past 18 months before her death. [MORE]