Socialist Seattle mayors interview cut short as staff blocks questions on gun violence, surveillance

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s staff abruptly ended an interview with a local news reporter this week after he pressed her on rising gun violence and surveillance cameras in the city after a recent shooting. Chris Daniels of KOMO News asked Wilson about community concerns over increasing gun violence and whether additional surveillance measures might be reconsidered. The mayor was quickly cut off mid-response by a member of her staff. “I appreciate it, but let’s keep it on topic, OK?” the staffer told Daniels, stepping in as Wilson appeared poised to respond to a question about whether the shooting would change her stance on surveillance cameras.Wilson had earlier addressed the shooting, saying there was no indication it was targeted and framing the incident within broader public safety challenges facing the city.“I’ll just say, you know, we don’t have any indication that that shooting was targeted or anything like that,” she told Daniels.Daniels continued to press the issue, citing concerns from residents who say gun violence has increased and that more surveillance could help deter crime.He was quickly interrupted by Wilson’s staffer.“We just need to keep it within the constraints of the event itself,” the staffer said.Daniels challenged the interruption, arguing the question was relevant to public concerns and the mayor’s recent experience, telling the staffer, “It looks worse when you jump in like that.”After the initial interruption, Wilson did later speak to Daniels again and directly addressed the surveillance question, saying the incident did not alter her position.“Not really,” she said when asked whether the shooting changed her perspective on expanding surveillance.“I believe that CCTV cameras have an important role to play in our public safety system,” Wilson said.“We also have to be very careful to make sure that our data storage, security, sharing practices don’t make that system vulnerable to misuse a...