Seattle Councilmember Sawant reports 'disturbing incidents' at her home

Update: Shortly after this story was posted Oct. 20, the Seattle Police Department issued a notice, asking for help identifying a suspect who has been spotted throwing feces at a council member's home.

SPD does not state who the council member is, but the details align with the incidents Councilmember Kshama Sawant has described (read more below).

The police call the incidents in the Leschi neighborhood "harassment with possible political motivations." An unknown person has been spotted throwing plastic bags of feces, potentially human, in the council member's yard between 5-8 p.m.

A suspect reportedly spotted throwing a bag into the yard was confronted on Oct. 13. A witness took photos of the person. More details about the suspect can be found here.

Anyone with information relating to the incidents is asked to call the SPD tip line at 206-233-5000.

Original post

Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant is accusing the Seattle Police Department of not properly investigating "disturbing incidents" happening at her home.

The Seattle Times reports that Sawant has found bags of human waste on her lawn at least six times recently. The latest incident happened last week.

Sawant sent a letter to police and city leaders, saying that police told her "the material can't be sent to their lab for further investigation due to its hazardous nature." She adds, "That seems quite odd considering that hospital labs do tests on human fecal matter all the time..."

She also says she called poison control after one of her dogs got into one of the bags of waste. Sawant says she believes the "extreme and hostile" incidents are politically motivated.

Sawant is also accusing police of not taking video evidence from a neighbor, ignoring two other witnesses, and failing to investigate what she considers a threatening email that was recently sent to her.

In a prepared statement, SPD told the Times that its investigation is ongoing, and that, so far, there is no evidence that the incidents would meet city or state standards to be considered hate crimes. SPD says it will follow any new leads and give Sawant's claims due diligence.

This is not the first time Sawant has written police and city leaders about her disappointment in police response to harassment. After receiving threatening emails in 2020, she wrote to then-Mayor Jenny Durkan and the police department, claiming the case was not being taken seriously enough.

In February 2021, police arrested a Seattle firefighter for the incident. In that case, a firefighter had gained access to a coworker's email and was impersonating them in an attempt to get them in trouble. They were charged with cyberstalking and identity theft.

Read The Seattle Times full report here.