Activist Seattle judge releases 3 minors charged with bringing automatic weapons to parade

Seattle Police arrested three armed male juveniles on July 21 at a parade in the Chinatown-International District after they were seen brandishing firearms near 7th Ave South and South Weller Street during the parade. A handgun was recovered from each of the teens and two of the guns were reported stolen.

Court records obtained by The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI revealed that the family of a murdered 16-year-old killed in Auburn last month was marching in the parade in honor of their son when they saw the three suspects, who they believe are connected to the murder, feared for their safety and alerted police.

According to court documents, “The father of the deceased boy saw the three teens. They were leaning up against a building and smiling at him and nodding to him to seemingly taunt the dad. A parking enforcement officer was notified, and one of the teens made a show of pulling his hoodie up from his waistband and reaching into his waistband to retrieve a handgun.”

One of the juveniles had a semiautomatic handgun, another had a modified handgun with a 30-round magazine and an auto-sear which allows for automatic firing, and the third had an untraceable, polymer-80 handgun that was also equipped with an auto-sear. Two of the teens are 14 and one is 13.

All three of the teens were arrested and booked into juvenile detention on charges ranging from Unlawful Possession of a Firearm, Unlawful Carry of a Pistol, and Felony Harassment. Two of the teens were charged with Unlawful Possession Of A Machine Gun.

Last week, a judge released one of the 14-year-olds onto electronic home monitoring despite the serious charges and King County prosecutors asking for the juvenile to remain in detention. The other two teens remained in custody for the community’s safety but were later also released despite having prior criminal histories.

King County Superior Court Judge Veronica Galvan told King County prosecutors who asked the court to hold each of the three teens in secure detention, “You are not going to hold this child for the rest of his life, so let’s stop pretending holding people here is going to solve and resolve the issues. That is not going to work.”

She added, "We’ve detained people for years, and crime is still here. Children are still coming in with inappropriate things, we still have behaviors that are concerning, this is going to take a lot more than just throwing people in and locking them up without a key."

This is despite one of the teens having behavioral issues in jail prior to the hearing. King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Jamie Kvistad told the court that one of the teens “was banging on the door shouting inappropriate comments towards the staff and making threats. This happened the night before his detention review when he came before this court today to ask for release.”

In 2014, Galvan was appointed to the court by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee. She is a faculty member for the Washington State Judicial College, was selected as President of the District and Municipal Court Judges' Association, and teaches at the Seattle University School of Law. Despite being up on felony charges and possibly being tied to a murder, the judge allowed some of the teens to attend activities like football practice with other children while on electronic home monitoring.