Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s staffer cuts off gun violence interview

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s staff abruptly ended an interview this week after a local news reporter pressed her about security cameras and increased gun violence in the city following a recent shooting.

KOMO News’ Chris Daniels asked Wilson about the community’s concerns about rising gun violence and whether additional surveillance measures might be reconsidered. The mayor acted quickly cut mid-response by one of his employees.

“Thank you, but let’s keep it on topic, okay?” The staff member told Daniels that Wilson stepped in when he appeared ready to answer a question about whether he would change his stance on surveillance footage of the attack.

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Wilson had previously addressed the shooting incident, saying there was no indication he was targeted and framing the incident with broader public safety issues facing the city.

“I’ll just say this, we have no evidence that the attack was targeted or anything like that,” he told Daniels.

Daniels continued to raise the issue, citing concerns from residents who say gun violence is on the rise and that more surveillance could help deter crime. Wilson was immediately interrupted by his handler.

“We just need to keep it within the confines of the event,” the staff said.

Daniels objected to the outage, arguing the issue was related to public concerns and the mayor’s recent experience, telling staff, “It looks worse when you dive in like that.”

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During an exchange between Mayor Katie Wilson and KOMO News reporter Chris Daniels about surveillance and crime concerns, a staff member stepped in to break up the questioning. (KCPQ)

After the meeting, Wilson directly addressed the surveillance question, saying the incident did not change his position.

“Not really,” he said when asked if the attack changed his perspective on expanding surveillance.

“I believe CCTV cameras play an important role in our public safety system,” Wilson said. “We must also be very careful to ensure that our data storage, security and sharing practices do not leave this system open to abuse and misuse.”

He noted the potential risks associated with federal authorities and other actors accessing such data; “Whether that’s by federal immigration enforcement or other bad actors,”

Wilson said the city conducts a review before expanding surveillance measures, adding: “That’s why we do a data and privacy audit before we start expanding CCTV surveillance in the city.”

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Crime and gun violence in Seattle have raised questions about whether more security cameras are needed throughout the city. (Chris Helgren/Reuters)

The mayor, a self-described democratic socialist, made headlines recently when he bid farewell to millionaires considering leaving the city because of a tax recently passed by Washington state Democrats, saying “goodbye” to wealthy residents when asked about the issue at a Seattle University event earlier this month.

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Fox News Digital reached out to Mayor Wilson for comment but did not immediately hear back.