A teen was killed at a Seattle protest. New video evidence shows what really happened

An 18-month investigation by The Seattle Times, KUOW and NPR's Embedded podcast and a review of more than a dozen videos from the night of the shooting reveal the most comprehensive view to date of how the chaotic scene unfolded. And they show how a Black teenager who came to join the civil rights movement of his generation — in a zone abandoned by police — ended up killed by a protest movement that thought he was a threat.

<img src='https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/8192x5290+0+0/resize/8192x5290!/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F9d%2F28%2Ffcd77d114afa971a6751158e51ce%2F243a2268.JPG' alt='Antonio Mays Sr. holds a picture of himself and his son, Antonio Mays Jr. in Superior Court at the King County Courthouse in Seattle on Dec. 10, 2025.'/><p>An 18-month investigation by The Seattle Times, KUOW and NPR's <em>Embedded</em> podcast and a review of more than a dozen videos from the night of the shooting reveal the most comprehensive view to date of how the chaotic scene unfolded. And they show how a Black teenager who came to join the civil rights movement of his generation — in a zone abandoned by police — ended up killed by a protest movement that thought he was a threat.</p><p>(Image credit: Ellen M. Banner)</p><img src='https://media.npr.org/include/images/tracking/npr-rss-pixel.png?story=g-s1-133360' />