Seattle official won't resign after yelling at Marine veteran over sex offender's board nomination

A Seattle official is refusing demands to resign after a tense committee hearing regarding the nomination of a convicted sex offender to the Seattle Homeless Board resulted in her yelling at a concerned citizen.

The incident occurred on May 3 during a Zoom meeting of a subcommittee of the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA), when Marine Veteran and sexual assault survivor Christina Sockies claimed that the named sex offender, Thomas Whittaker-Raven Crowfoot, sexually assaulted her in a previous But was “touched”. Occasion.

“We have a code of conduct on this board and Thomas Whittaker-Raven Crowfoot is a sex offender – a repeat sex offender – and I’ve had a bad experience with him,” Sawkiewicz said.

Then, committee co-chair Shani Colston angrily jumped in to defend Whittaker and scolded Saveckis for using the meeting to “out” someone despite having public knowledge of previous convictions.

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“It’s not okay, not at all. I won’t stand for it as co-chair. We’re not here to find people’s backgrounds,” Colston shouted, as Saukiewicz appeared to try to change the subject.

Colston interrupted Saukiewicz to say: “And I’m really glad she’s here because sex offenders are another population that is most vulnerable who don’t have housing. People change.”

Another board member agreed with Colston and went on to ask Saukiewicz whether she had taken the issue to the police, which she said she had.

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However, Colston continued to speak of Saukiewicz, saying: “As co-chair, I’m telling you that you can’t talk like that in this meeting. I won’t do it here. If someone wants to talk like that.” You are muted and removed from this board meeting.”

“It’s about equity and everyone, everyone deserves housing. I don’t care if they’re sex offenders. I don’t care if they’re black. I don’t care if they’re indigenous. I don’t care if they I don’t care if they are criminals. I don’t care if they are coming out of jail or jail. Everyone deserves housing,” she continued.

According to the King County Sheriff’s Office, Whitaker is a registered sex offender with two offenses described as “communicating with minors for immoral purposes.”

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KCRHA chief program officer Peter Lynn unsuccessfully appealed for Colston to resign from the subcommittee this week, according to local affiliate KOMO-TV.

In a statement, KCRHA said it “shares the concerns of our community regarding the nomination of a registered sex offender to the Continuum of Care Board, and does not support that nomination of Whittaker to the Board”.

This statement also destroyed Colston’s attitude towards Saveckis.

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“We agree that the behavior by the current board co-chair in yelling at the board member who identified the nominee is a registered sex offender was unacceptable, and we have immediately asked the co-chair to resign,” it said. .

Colston continues to resist calls for resignation.