Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson now faces public criticism from her own party's governor after her handling of a fatal food festival shooting drew bipartisan condemnation, and a growing recall effort.
Washington Governor Bob Ferguson shared a social media post this week from journalist Ari Hoffman that criticized Wilson's conduct in the aftermath of the July 27 shooting at the Bite of Seattle food festival, which left three people dead and four wounded. Ferguson's account then quietly deleted the post, but not before Hoffman and others noticed the governor had amplified a pointed rebuke of a mayor from his own party. The Daily Mail reported that neither Ferguson nor Wilson responded to requests for comment.
The episode is the latest in a cascade of problems for Wilson, who has held office for roughly seven months and now faces a formal recall effort, sharp criticism from Black community organizations, and a public broadside from Starbucks founder Howard Schultz, all while Seattle residents contend with rising gun violence and a police department in leadership limbo.
The Bite of Seattle, one of the city's signature summer events, turned into a scene of panic on July 27 when gunfire erupted among festival-goers. Police believe two suspects were shooting at each other. Three people were killed: two men aged 19 and 44, and a 56-year-old woman who died at Harborview Medical Center. Four others were wounded, including a 2-year-old boy. One suspect was taken into custody; the other remained at large.
Eyewitness Estan Wakonabo described the aftermath:
"It was just pure chaos. People were hiding, were pushing, people were falling on the ground, baby strollers were falling."
The city's public communication after the shooting was almost nonexistent. Police took nearly five hours to provide any additional public information after the initial incident report. No emergency alert notifications were sent to residents. Wilson herself issued a statement about arrests that she later had to retract, a stumble that only deepened the impression of a city government caught flat-footed.
The shooting traced back to what investigators described as targeted gang conflict, a detail that underscored the depth of Seattle's public safety challenges under Wilson's watch.
In the chaotic hours after the shooting, a Zoom call was hastily organized for Washington state leaders to coordinate a response. Wilson joined the call but refused to turn on her camera or speak. That detail, first reported by Hoffman, an editor at the Post Millennial, became a flashpoint. A mayor whose city had just experienced a mass shooting at a family event chose not to participate in the very call convened to address it.
Hoffman filed a Freedom of Information Act request seeking records of the call. Ferguson's office responded that it does not have a recording. Hoffman noted on X that Ferguson follows him on social media and remarked that the governor sharing his critical post "wasn't on my bingo card for today."
"He seems to really be trying to throw Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson under the bus."
Ferguson's decision to amplify, and then delete, Hoffman's reporting tells its own story. A Democratic governor does not casually share a conservative journalist's criticism of a fellow Democrat's crisis management. The deletion suggests someone in Ferguson's orbit recognized the political implications, but the damage was already done.
Wilson's next move compounded the fallout. She forced the resignation of Police Chief Shon Barnes, 55, over his handling of the shooting response. Barnes had been out of town at a law enforcement conference when the shooting occurred. Deputy Chief Andre Sayles, who has more than two decades of law enforcement experience, was appointed interim chief.
Barnes, in a statement, said he hoped the transition would give the city "the opportunity to return full focus to what matters most, addressing youth gun violence and preventing more tragedies." The words were gracious. The circumstances were not.
Black community organizations pushed back hard. The Seattle NAACP, the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, Byrd Barr Place, and Community Passageways all criticized Wilson's decision. An open letter from the NAACP and Urban League stated plainly:
"Chief Barnes should not be made a scapegoat for the complex challenges of public safety."
The letter also called Wilson's move "the wrong decision at the wrong time" and warned it "would disrupt Seattle's progress in public safety." Seattle political consultant Sandeep Kaushik offered a blunter assessment, telling Breitbart that Wilson "looks weak and vacillating" and that for nearly 24 hours "it's not clear whether the police chief is still the police chief."
A mayor who ran on progressive ideals managed to unite the NAACP, the Urban League, and conservative commentators in a shared judgment: her leadership on public safety is failing. That is not a partisan critique. It is a consensus.
Meanwhile, the police department's own language around gang violence had already drawn scrutiny before Barnes was pushed out, raising questions about whether Seattle's political leadership was willing to name the problem clearly.
Two Seattle residents, Melinda Jacobson and Dale Osterud, have filed formal recall paperwork against Wilson. The filing, published by KUOW, accuses Wilson of making "a hasty, rash decision to force a resignation" from Barnes, showing a "lack of fiscal responsibility" and sowing "distrust among the citizens of Seattle."
Jacobson told the Seattle Times that Wilson has been "derelict in her duties for public safety of the city of Seattle."
"She sort of ignored the public safety part of her job, which is a huge part, and that is not right. This is a big city. We need a big-city-type mayor who knows how to deal with everything."
Seven months into her tenure, Wilson faces a formal effort to remove her from office. The recall's ultimate success is uncertain, it remains in its early stages, but the filing itself reflects a level of frustration that usually takes years to build. Wilson has compressed that timeline considerably.
Residents in some Seattle neighborhoods have already taken matters into their own hands, building street barricades in response to gun violence and what they describe as city inaction. That is not a sign of a functioning city government. It is a sign of abandonment.
Wilson's problems extend well beyond public safety. Starbucks founder Howard Schultz published an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that amounted to a corporate farewell letter. Schultz wrote that Wilson "has chosen to cast business as a foil rather than a partner."
"Her socialist rhetoric vilifies employers, even while she continues to rely on them for revenue. She has encouraged residents who disagree with her policies to leave."
Schultz said he is moving much of Starbucks' corporate base to Tennessee. Starbucks itself insists it will remain Seattle-based, but the signal is unmistakable: one of the city's most prominent business figures has decided the political environment is hostile enough to warrant relocation.
Wilson's response to concerns about wealth and entrepreneurship fleeing Seattle has been dismissive. At a town hall, she called such worries "overblown." Then she waved her hand and said of those who might leave: "And to the ones that leave, 'bye!'"
Seattle, birthplace of Microsoft, Starbucks, and Amazon, has long been one of America's most dynamic business cities. Wilson has called for a wealth tax and new business taxes. The city has already experienced significant economic losses tied to earlier tax policy decisions. Telling departing employers "bye" while proposing new levies is not a governing philosophy. It is a dare, and Schultz, for one, has taken her up on it.
Ferguson's brief amplification of Hoffman's reporting may have been the most revealing moment in this entire sequence. A sitting Democratic governor shared criticism of a Democratic mayor's crisis response from a conservative outlet's editor. Then someone hit delete.
Ferguson's office has offered no explanation for the share or the deletion. The governor has not commented publicly. But actions speak with more clarity than press releases. Ferguson saw Hoffman's account of Wilson sitting silent on a crisis call while her city reeled from a mass shooting, and he chose, however briefly, to put his name next to it.
Wilson has managed to draw criticism on multiple fronts simultaneously: from her own governor, from Black community leaders who should be natural allies, from the business community that funds city services, and from ordinary residents who filed recall paperwork because they believe their mayor has abandoned her most basic responsibility.
When a mayor loses the NAACP, the business community, her own governor, and the voters filing to recall her, all within seven months, the problem is not bad luck. It is leadership.
