EXCLUSIVE COVERAGE: Trial in lawsuit launched by family of teen shot dead in CHOP begins—will Seattle be found liable?

In a courtroom heavy with grief, the high-profile civil jury trial pitting the family of murdered teenager Antonio Mays Jr. against the City of Seattle commenced on Wednesday in King County Superior Court. This case is centered around the tragic death of Antonio Mays Jr., a black 16-year-old from California who was shot dead in the 2020 Antifa-Black Lives Matter Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, also known as "CHAZ" or "CHOP."

In the summer of 2020, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Antifa and BLM militants cordoned off a 6-block area in downtown Seattle and declared themselves autonomous. Then-Mayor Jenny Durkan called it "the summer of love," bristling when her leadership was questioned over the occupation. Orders were given for Seattle police to abandon a precinct house in the "zone" and the city aided the erection of barriers around the area, leaving those within the zone to fend for themselves.

The wrongful death lawsuit accuses the city of negligence for abandoning the Seattle Police East Precinct to protesters, supplying barricades that fortified the six-block "war zone," and prohibiting police and emergency responders from entering the area, effectively creating a "state-created danger" that enabled violence, resulting in the teen's death.

Before Judge Timothy O'Donnell, attorneys laid out starkly contrasting narratives about the deadly CHAZ/CHOP zone. The 15 jurors will determine if the city is liable for Antonio's death. Antonio Mays Sr., the victim's father, entered the courtroom stone-faced, clutching a framed portrait of his son, whom he raised as a single father. He pulled his family out of homelessness through running a barbecue sauce business.

In opening statements, Attorney Evan Oshan, representing the Mays family, told the jury that Antonio Mays Jr. traveled to Seattle from California to "join the civil rights movement of his generation." The CHAZ/CHOP was formed in response to the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in Minneapolis police custody, which sparked nationwide anti-police racial justice protests and riots across the nation.

What drew him, Oshan argued, was the innocent portrayal by then-Mayor Jenny Durkan, a Democrat, who dubbed the zone a "block party" and a "summer of love" festival. He left a note for his father announcing his departure, saying he felt led by "God." But upon arrival, Antonio did not walk into what was being portrayed on television. Instead, he entered a large militarized barricade controlled by armed protesters, many of whom belonged to the Antifa terrorist organization's security arm, known as the John Brown Gun Club (JBGC), who patrolled the barricades with rifles while Seattle police officers were ordered to stand down.

Antonio had no prior history of protesting and, due to his young age, was unaware of the danger element. Oshan promised the jury that the evidence presented at trial would show the city not only barred SPD and Seattle Fire from entry but actively aided the zone's creation– installing the barricades and providing portable toilets.

Tragedy struck on June 29, 2020, around 3 am. Just days after a fatal mass shooting rocked CHAZ, Antonio and his 14-year-old friend Robert West were driving through the zone when "CHAZ security"– protesters acting as self-appointed guards– unleashed a hail of gunfire. Video footage captured the chaos, which included roughly one hundred rounds of ammunition fired and protesters scrambling to collect the spent shell casings while shouting, "Hell yeah, no evidence!"

Antonio was struck at least eight times, while West miraculously survived a gunshot wound to the head. "Good Samaritans" among the protesters dialed 911, but no sirens arrived on scene. Oshan told the Court that SPD had abandoned its active-shooter protocols, citing city directives.

Bystanders loaded the wounded teens into vehicles. CHAZ "warlord" Raz Simone, a rapper and self-proclaimed security head later filmed distributing firearms to minors inside the zone, transported West to a hospital. The others, transporting Antonio, attempted to approach a Seattle Fire ambulance, but the first responders fled. A 911 dispatcher urged for Antonio to be sent to a city-designated staging area at 14th and Union. However, there was a dispatch error that labeled the designated area a "scene of violence," prompting medics to scatter upon the victims' arrival, Oshan said. He asserted that Antonio endured 25 minutes of agonizing pain before succumbing to injuries.

"The City of Seattle abandoned everybody. Not just Antonio Jr., but Seattle PD, Seattle Fire, and all of the citizens of Seattle," Oshan declared. Jurors will view harrowing video of his final moments, he said, alongside audio of frustrated officers begging to intervene: "You'll hear the frustration from SPD officers who couldn't help."

Attorney Alexandra Nica, representing the City of Seattle, claimed that the vehicle Antonio had been driving that night was "stolen," therefore, he was allegedly committing a felony at the time of his death. She said the sole responsibility for Antonio's death lies with the shooters, telling the Court, "It was not the city that pulled the trigger." A suspect, or suspects, have not yet been apprehended in this case. Antonio's death resulted in the city dismantling the zone two days later.

The suit demands accountability for what Oshan called a cascade of "failed protocols actively put in place by the City of Seattle," from the precinct's forfeiture to the lack of emergency planning in a zone that saw multiple cold-blooded killings over its 24-day reign.