How an anti-police violence protest ended in a teen’s death

What It Covers

NPR's Embedded series "We Keep Us Safe" investigates the June 29, 2020 killing of 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. at Seattle's Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), where armed protesters shot into a white Jeep, and the case remains unsolved five years later despite extensive livestream footage of the aftermath.

Key Questions Answered

• •Evidence destruction on camera: Within minutes of the shooting, a man at the scene was filmed collecting bullet casings and pocketing them while bystanders audibly encouraged the act. Despite this footage being publicly available since 2020, Seattle police made no arrest related to evidence tampering, raising questions about investigative priorities and how openly crimes can occur during civil unrest.
• •Narrative solidification before facts: Reporters Sydney Brownstone and Will James observed that the self-defense narrative among CHOP protesters hardened within hours of the shooting, before any investigation occurred. This pattern — where a community under pressure collectively adopts a protective story — can effectively block accountability even when dozens of witnesses and multiple video recordings exist from the scene.
• •Institutional silence as investigative obstacle: After nearly 100 interviews and over a year of reporting, James and Brownstone found a consistent circle of silence spanning protesters, Seattle police, and city officials. Antonio Mays Sr. received no updates from Seattle police after 2020, despite the department publicly claiming the murder investigation remains open and active as of 2025.
• •Livestream footage as investigative tool: Three specific livestreams recorded between approximately 3AM and dawn on June 29, 2020, provide a partial reconstruction of events — including audio of the fatal shots, a vehicle crash into city-installed barricades, and footage of the aftermath. Investigators and journalists can systematically cross-reference multiple simultaneous streams to build timelines even when individual videos have obstructed sightlines.
• •Victim identity shapes narrative outcomes: Antonio Mays Jr. traveled from Southern California to Seattle on June 23, 2020, filing a missing persons report from his father within days. His father's 2023 civil lawsuit against Seattle argues the teen came to join the protest movement, not attack it — demonstrating how the absence of a victim's family voice in early media coverage allows an unchallenged narrative to calcify for years.