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Court Orders Seattle Pay Family $30 Million After Killing
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Court Orders Seattle Pay Family $30 Million After Killing

Seattle’s handling of the 2020 Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, later rebranded by city leaders and sympathetic media as the CHOP zone, has now produced a concrete and costly reckoning.

More than five years after officials allowed a seven-block section of the city to fall under anarchist control during the George Floyd riots, a King County jury has ordered Seattle to pay over $30.5 million to the family of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr., who was killed inside the zone. The verdict stands as one of the most consequential legal judgments tied to the so-called “Summer of Love.”


Mays Jr. was shot by armed individuals described as “security” within the CHOP zone after Seattle police and emergency services had abandoned the East Precinct and were instructed not to enter the area. Another teenager, 14-year-old Robert West, was also shot during the same incident.

Because first responders refused to enter the autonomous zone, both boys were forced to be transported to medics outside the barricaded area, a delay that jurors ultimately determined contributed to Mays Jr.’s death. Expert testimony suggested that faster access to emergency medical care could have altered the outcome.

After 12 days of deliberation, the jury concluded that the city was negligent in its emergency response and its decision to allow the zone to exist without adequate law enforcement or medical access.

The award included approximately $4 million to Mays Jr.’s estate and $26 million to his father, Antonio Mays Sr., who was visibly emotional as the verdict was read. His reaction underscored the central reality of the case: no financial judgment can undo the loss of a child, even if it acknowledges institutional failure.


At the time, then-Mayor Jenny Durkan publicly minimized the danger posed by the occupation, describing it as a “Summer of Love.” That characterization persisted even as violence mounted. In addition to Mays Jr.’s killing, 19-year-old Lorenzo Anderson was also shot and killed in the zone, and numerous other shootings occurred. Former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best later testified that reports of rapes, robberies, and violent crimes had tripled after police withdrew.

Written by Arthur Higgens - January 30, 2026