Профиль

I appreciated that immensely. My reporting was the the source for the info about Barnes’ absence and I noticed that other reporters, and at least one social media influencer, treated the information like it fell from the sky instead of being reported by a human.

He's registered to vote in Seattle.

It's possible that Barnes' reaction to Connor's question, which was to confront him so forcefully that his chief of staff inserted himself in between the two men and hustled Barnes away, is one reason he wasn't at a 4pm press conference today. The mayor said she'll hold another briefing tomorrow.

Connor Nash wrote about his experience trying to ask the police chief a question based on my reporting that Barnes was out of town during yesterday's shooting (at a conference in Dallas) and that two sources told me he planned to be out of town through mid-August.

Sorry, left out the video. Here it is! komonews.com/news/local/s...

In all, I closed down nine records requests and left three open. I'll post more about the requests I closed (and the two requests from 2024 I'm leaving open) tomorrow.

I don't think anyone cares about the chief's medical appointments. They do care if he's frequently out of town on personal trips—like seeing his wife and kids at their permanent home in Chicago. Every time I report on this, it gets a lot of response because people do care!

Another view, with a bit more footage showing Seattle's police chief Shon Barnes telling a reporter who just asked about his frequent trips out of town, "I don't have to tell you where I go" and then volunteering information about a "medical procedure on Friday."

This is incorrect—Barnes was appointed police chief in December 2024, and was confirmed in July. He was serving as police chief that entire time.

The optics of all this are pretty bizarre. The police chief, who lashed out at a reporter earlier for asking how much time he spends out of town, was nowhere to be seen. In his place was an assistant chief who just kept saying "this is an active investigation" no matter what the question.

Last night, police were criticized for waiting 5 hours to hold a press conference (without Barnes, who was out of town, as I reported here yesterday). Now they're holding pressers before they have new information, featuring the mayor who surely has other things to do.

At a second press conference on the mass shooting at Seattle Center, assistant chief Nicole Powell said the shooter and one victim knew each other and it was probably gang-related. So basically: No substantive new information. Mayor Katie Wilson was there; Police Chief Shon Barnes was absent.

My updated post from this morning (the item about school lunches is now its own post) publicola.com/2026/07/27/s...

I assume that he does (since it's personal travel, and that's city policy) but I have requested his travel records.

And honestly, all-purpose hater though I may be, I don't ordinarily point this kind of misguided request for a correction out. But the way the police chief treated another reporter who asked a reasonable question this morning was really out of line, so I'm not currently feeling all that generous.

Love to get a demand for a correction ("You reported that the Police Chief was in Chicago," which no I did not) from people who have been ignoring my questions about Barnes' whereabouts and schedule for two days. Here's where I said the chief was, from my unaltered post this morning.

The guy telling Barnes, "Let's go, man" and hustling him off is Alex Ricketts, his Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity brother and chief of staff. Responding to someone's question in this thread, he makes $230,000.

Incidentally, as I note in my story today, I repeatedly asked SPD's media relations people questions about his schedule and whether being out of town is an issue—once last night, and again this morning. They ignored me. publicola.com/2026/07/27/s...

I think this kind of reaction is pretty outsized for a reasonable question—if a big-city police chief is out of town much of the time, including on weekends, holidays, and during the summer when violent incidents are more common, that's a matter of obvious public interest.

Connor was trying to ask a very reasonable question about the time Chief Barnes, who rents in Seattle while his family home continues to be in Chicago, is out of town—which he was during the mass shooting yesterday. I really encourage folks to watch the Chief's response to Connor's question.