CHOP lawsuit for dead teen now names former police chief and fire marshal

SEATTLE — A lawsuit filed in June regarding the death of a teen during the CHOP/CHAZ occupation on Seattle’s Capitol Hill has been updated with the names of former Police Chief Carmen Best and Fire Marshal Harold Scoggins, according to the Oshan & Associates law firm.

The amended complaint updated the lawsuit on Aug. 27 and follows an internal affairs investigation into the Seattle Police Department after the death of teenager Antonio Mays Jr. The complaint says that there may have been a policy violation regarding the investigation into the boy’s death as found by the Office of Police Accountability.

The lawsuit alleges that the scene of the boy’s murder was “botched” and that typical police procedures were not followed. Mays was a Black teen who came to Seattle in order to participate in the civil rights movement following the murder of George Floyd. Reports say that he was shot and killed while trying to flee the area.

“Not only did Seattle officials encourage the Chop Zone and the anarchy that ultimately led to the teen’s violent and painful death, it was not even properly investigated or even acknowledged and Antonio Mays Junior never got the justice he deserves,” said Evan Oshan of Oshan & Associates.

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