Progressive House Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) doubted Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s leadership as officials scrutinized her response to the deadly mass shooting at a food festival.
Jayapal expressed the lack of confidence she had in the self-identified socialist mayor following the Bite of Seattle massacre that left three dead and four others wounded in July.
“Give me a ring I’m wondering if we should be there at all,” Jayapal wrote in a series of text
messages to Washington Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson on July 26, according to KOMO News.
“I’m not confident she knows what she is doing.”
The five-term congresswoman appeared to be talking about a news conference that had been delayed for five hours before officials briefed the public on the shooting that killed two men, 19 and 44, and a 56-year-old woman.
During their text exchange, Ferguson urged Jayapal to reach out to Wilson directly instead of going through him for information.
City officials were being panned for the long delay that left the city in the dark for hours following the violence that erupted outside the Seattle Center near the Space Needle at around 6 p.m.
The texts between Jayapal and Ferguson are part of a larger file dump that the governor’s office released Wednesday, detailing the communications between officials in the aftermath of the shooting.
Jayapal, who has represented Washington District 7 – including a large portion of Seattle – since 2017, had been coordinating with Ferguson to get information about the shooting.
The congresswoman had earlier suggested being included in any of Wilson’s news conferences.
“I spoke to her. Suggested that if they are doing a public conference, it would be good if we are all there,” Jayapal wrote to Ferguson, who “agreed.”
Briefing calls were held between 8 and 9 p.m.
Jayapal later revealed she was told to stay away from the Seattle Center because it was an active investigation scene.
Both Ferguson and Jayapal learned about the 11 p.m. news conference around 10:10 p.m. as the two rushed over to the Seattle Center.
“They’re waiting for both of us,” Jayapal messaged. “I will be there in 15 minutes.”
The governor’s office said Jayapal’s message was sent at 10:32 p.m., two minutes after Ferguson arrived.
Reports later began to swirl that the delay of the news conference was because of the late arrivals of “dignitaries” with no mention of the mayor’s office.
“I’m having Rachel call Brian and say this is outrageous that someone said the delay was because of dignitaries. You may want to have your folks do that too,” Jayapal wrote to Ferguson. “We can raise it directly to her too.”
Jayapal slammed Wilson’s office over the rumored cause of the delays following the release of the governor’s communications.
“I spoke to the Mayor on my way to the Seattle Center, and she told me they were awaiting our arrival,” Jayapal told KING5. “Any delay in waiting for the Governor and I to arrive was about a matter of minutes, not hours.”
During the hectic several hours, Jayapal says she thought police were consistently sharing information with the public instead of waiting for the press conference.
Seattle Police shared a single post to X as the shooting unfolded at 6:29 p.m.
“Police are investigating a shooting. Multiple shooting victims. Shots fired at the Seattle Center. More information to come. Please avoid the area,” the post read.
Jayapal, on Thursday, stood by her criticism of Wilson regarding her leadership in the immediate aftermath of the shooting.
“My messages also reflected my serious concerns that no information had been shared with the public prior to this press conference,” she told KING5.
Jayapal’s recollection has been confirmed by police officials who said their department was ready to brief the public but had to wait for Wilson.
“What happened that day was tough. We were ready to go. I was gonna really walk down there and handle it. I did talk to the deputy mayor, just kind of let them know as a courtesy, we’re gonna go down and conduct the interview. And then I was told we needed to wait for the mayor,” Assistant Police Chief Tyrone Davis told the City Council last week, according to KOMO News.
Wilson’s office did not respond to Jayapal’s criticism.
Instead, officials said Wilson was focused on “strengthening public safety communications, reducing gun violence and proposing investments in public safety and well-being.”
