Slog AM: Auburn’s Worst Cop Gets More Expensive, Musk Bans Critics from Twitter, and UK World Cup Fans Avoid Jail

The tech siblings are going to be fine: Despite recent layoffs at Seattle’s major tech firms grabbing headlines, the overall job market continued to add jobs in November. The Seattle Times reports that Washington added 13,100 positions to payrolls last month, with the surge in hiring coming mostly in health care and social services. Tech firms also added about 1,000 jobs, suggesting those recently laid-off tech workers are still finding plenty of demand for their skills.

Auburn’s worst cop gets more expensive: The Seattle Times reports that the city of Auburn recently settled another lawsuit stemming from Officer Jeff Nelson’s excessive use of force, this time for $450,000. This latest settlement brings Nelson’s total tab for settlements of lawsuits alleging he used excessive force to $5.7 million. Nelson is currently on paid administrative leave, and has been since August 2020 when he was charged with murder following the death of the third person he killed in the line of duty. 

Give the women their day in court: Several women who have filed a lawsuit against Seattle-area hiphop artist and alleged sex trafficker, Raz Simone, are at risk of having their case thrown out for a dumb technicality. Simone’s attorneys are arguing that the statute of limitations for the women to bring their suit has lapsed, despite language in the relevant statute specifying that the clock that limits when a person can bring a civil suit doesn’t start running until they could have “reasonably discovered” they were involved in a criminal pattern of exploitation. 

Let it snow: I want it. So badly. All the cute little kids in too-large puffy jackets. Dogs frolicking in frozen water they barely understand, but still enjoy. An excuse to sit on my couch and watch the snowflakes drift lazily downward while sipping a warm cup of coffee. This is what the holiday season is supposed to be, and this year, the weather just might deliver.

You’ve probably seen a lot of variability in the extended forecast next week. So, what’s with all the uncertainty? It comes down to a potential battle of air masses. A colder modified arctic is expected to arrive late in the weekend. It could bring some light snowfall… pic.twitter.com/9CCVYHLJDq

— NWS Seattle (@NWSSeattle) December 15, 2022

If it doesn’t snow: Consider getting some culture during the winter break, or any time until September 2023, by visiting the Wing Luke Museum’s “Resisters” exhibit. The South Seattle Emerald has an excellent review of the latest effort to bring the history of Japanese internment camps to life.

Do your job, cop trainers: According to the Seattle Times, the advocates with the Washington Coalition for Police Accountability have asked the Criminal Justice Training Commission to be more aggressive about removing trainees from the police academy when they show signs of being psychologically unfit to work as a cop. The Commission hasn’t offered an explanation as to why it didn’t use its authority to boot Timothy Rankine from the academy. He was the cop who exhibited “mental condition black” during a training exercise about not shooting a civilian and was involved in the killing of Manuel Ellis after the academy graduated him despite the warning signs during training. 

I have no segue for this: Because there is none. Any civilized society would have melted down all the guns by now, but instead, we’ve chosen to memorialize our obstinance at funerals for literal children across the country. Great work, team.

Guns are now the No. 1 cause of deaths among American children and teens, ahead of car crashes, other injuries and congenital disease.

In other rich countries, gun deaths are not even among the top four causes of death.https://t.co/Fu87136A1L pic.twitter.com/vSBTAeZKVk

— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) December 15, 2022

Elon Musk bans journalists from Twitter: The world’s preeminent manchild threw a temper tantrum yesterday and banned several prominent journalists who had been reporting on Musk’s inconsistent treatment of accounts sharing the location of his private jet. Musk claims these people were “doxxing” him by tweeting out his “exact real-time location,” calling them “assassination coordinates.” My dude, you are the second richest man in the world (somehow). Pay for private security, and don’t have a public meltdown around people sharing publicly available data about flight plans from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The EU isn’t having it: After Musk’s tantrum, regulators with the European Union announced they will investigate the suspension of journalists from the platform as a possible violation of the EU’s Digital Services Act. Twitter has already risked losing favorable regulatory status under the bloc’s General Data Protection Regulation when Musk’s takeover led to the departure of the company’s data protection officer. 

Real banner week for Elon, tbh: I mean, if you’re going to embrace arbitrary and capricious content moderation decisions, why not block people from coordinating their flight from your increasingly crappy platform while you’re at it?

Twitter suspends the account of its rival Mastodon, and many links to some Mastodon servers no longer work on Twitter, which flags them as “potentially harmful” (@tayhatmaker / TechCrunch)https://t.co/FRo9UtAUBehttps://t.co/iAPwnkgVxw

— Techmeme (@Techmeme) December 16, 2022

Don’t cross the picket line: The Associated Press reports that Starbucks Workers United is planning a three-day walkout at more than 100 stores nationwide starting today. The workers are protesting illegal union-busting tactics, including firing workers for organizing and closing stores after their employees voted in favor of forming a union. I swear, there are better places for you to get an $8 latte this weekend, so do the absolute least you can to support these workers fighting for a living wage.

Umm, what the actual fuck? According to former US Senate candidate and current Pennsylvania State Representative Malcolm Kenyatta, the state’s Republican Party is shaping up to effectively steal the Democrats’ first House majority in over a decade. Listen to the man for the full story.

IMPORTANT PA Update: There’s a national scandal brewing in the Pennsylvania State House.

Everyone should be talking about this. pic.twitter.com/qiIFnMx1DS

— Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (@malcolmkenyatta) December 15, 2022

I can’t believe this is news, but then again, I don’t watch much soccer. This year’s World Cup marks the first time ever that the country’s involvement in the tournament concluded without the arrest of a single fan from the UK, according to USA Today. While it was probably a bummer for fans, UK law enforcement said the lack of booze available to rowdy fans in the stands probably helped.

Let’s end AM with my favorite scene from any soccer-related content. Apologies to those of you who don’t get this reference, but if you know, you know.