Seattle Withdraws Subpeona For Unpublished Protest Images

SEATTLE, WA — Seattle is abandoning its effort to compel five media outlets to release raw images and videos taken during a downtown demonstration, the police department announced Monday.

Dozens were arrested on May 30 after earlier peaceful demonstrations escalated in the afternoon, leading to looting, property damage and car fires in the downtown core. By the police department's accounting, at least five police vehicles were burned and two guns were stolen.

In July, a King County judge ordered the Seattle Times and four television stations to comply with the subpoena, but the state Supreme Court postponed the order a month later, pending an appeal from the news organizations.

Attorneys representing the journalists argued the images were protected by shield laws, and releasing them threatened to undermine the media's independence, credibility and effectiveness. The city's effort also faced pushback from the American Civil Liberties Union, protesters and several members of the Seattle City Council.

In a brief statement published Monday, the Seattle Police Department cited the high court's decision in changing course:

"As we have previously stated, at all times we followed the legal process set forth in state law for obtaining evidence of precisely this type. However, based on the Supreme Court’s decision to delay any ruling on the media’s appeal until later next year, and in light of excellent work by the assigned case detective in the interim, the department agreed that the prudent decision would be to withdraw the subpoena from the court."