Introducing "We Keep Us Safe" from NPR, KUOW and The Seattle Times
SYDNEY BROWNSTONE, HOST:
Back in 2020, a remarkable experiment took place. After an intense standoff with anti-police-brutality protesters, police abandoned their own precinct.
WILL JAMES, HOST:
Protesters stayed and started occupying about eight city blocks in the middle of Seattle.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: There's several hundred people being completely peaceful. It's like a block party.
JAMES: They set up tents. There was free food, a mutual aid station, a stage for speeches and music.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #1: (Singing) I want my world to change.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Singing) I want my world to change.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: It evolved into this community.
BROWNSTONE: They called it CHOP.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: The Capitol Hill Organized Protest.
JAMES: A place with no police. It was their attempt to build a better world.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: For a moment there, it was utopia.
JAMES: But protesters feared an attack from right-wing activists.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #2: Taking my group down around City Hall to monitor the group of the Proud Boys.
BROWNSTONE: Some protesters appointed themselves CHOP security, began walking around in tactical gear, carrying guns.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #3: I'm not very familiar with firearms.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #4: AR-50.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #3: That's an AR-50.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #4: AR-50.
BROWNSTONE: And then one night, a Jeep drove into the camp.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #5: Shots are fired. Shots are fired, y'all.
(SOUNDBITE OF GUNSHOTS)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #5: Shots are fired.
BROWNSTONE: Protesters thought they were under attack and shot at the Jeep.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #6: (Shouting) Move out of the way.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #5: Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #7: They're coming. Move out the way.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #6: (Shouting) Out the road. Out the road.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER #7: Stop yelling please.
JAMES: After the shooting ended, one of the Jeep's passengers was dead - 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. That night, protesters saw him as a threat, but his dad, who taught him what it means to be Black in America, says his son was there for the cause.
ANTONIO MAYS SR: To be honest, if it meant that I'd have my son back, I wouldn't teach my son Black history because I want to have him back right now. That's - man, to hell with Black history.
BROWNSTONE: Six years later, the case remains unsolved.
JAMES: And no one has been able to explain how this place built to protect Black life ended up killing a Black teenager.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
JAMES: I'm Will James.
BROWNSTONE: And I'm Sydney Brownstone. For more than a year, we've been investigating what happened that night, sifting through rumors.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: He put in work for the streets, I guess. That's what they were saying. That's why he got killed.
JAMES: Digging up new witnesses.
Is someone chasing you?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: Oh, yeah.
JAMES: Like, in a car chasing you?
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #6: Yes. Like, multiple cars.
JAMES: And uncovering never-before-seen evidence.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #7: See this right here? That's a long gun out of the front seat.
BROWNSTONE: (Gasping).
JAMES: Holy s***.
BROWNSTONE: S***.
Listen to We Keep Us Safe, an eight-part series coming Thursday, June 11, from NPR's EMBEDDED podcast, The Seattle Times and KUOW.
JAMES: NPR+ supporters get early access to every episode.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
Copyright © 2026 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.
Accuracy and availability of NPR transcripts may vary. Transcript text may be revised to correct errors or match updates to audio. Audio on npr.org may be edited after its original broadcast or publication. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.