Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is facing backlash for her anti-CCTV camera stance

Seattle’s Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson is facing a backlash on social media after a 77-year-old man was seen on video being beaten by two people in a case captured by closed-circuit television cameras, a device Wilson previously criticized as making the public feel unsafe and “vulnerable.”

An old man was walking down a street in downtown Seattle last month when two men walking by him stopped, without provocation, pushed him to the ground and beat him, KOMO News reported.

Ahmed Abdullahi Osman, 29, was later arrested and charged with second-degree assault, while police are searching for a second suspect. It is reported that Osman was arrested on the night of the incident and was released back to the streets before the bail hearing.

“Turning on more cameras won’t magically make our neighborhoods safer, but it will make our neighborhoods more vulnerable,” Wilson said. said in 2025 after the Seattle City Council approved an expansion of the Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) CCTV system, the system used to capture video of this particular crime, according to KOMO News.

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Conservatives on social media were quick to point to Wilson’s policies, widely criticized as “soft on crime,” as the cause, as well as his previous comments on CCTV.

“They chose a SOCIALIST,” said Heritage Foundation CEO Mike Gonzalez posted on X. “What did they think would happen?”

“Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson doesn’t know the job,” reporter Jonathan Choe posted on X. “So you’re letting far-left activists make public safety decisions for the city.”

“Continue to explain the ‘sOCiONoMic rOoT CAusES’ of this heinous crime,” Manhattan Institute fellow Rafael A. Mangual posted on X.

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“Ahmed Abdullah Osman beat 77-year-old man in Seattle,” account of conservative influencer End Wokeness posted on X in a clip that has been viewed over a million times. “Police praise street video cameras. Mayor Wilson: ‘CCTV puts refugees at risk.’

Wilson raised concerns from local activist groups that CCTV cameras would put illegal immigrant communities at risk.

“We are deeply concerned that the proliferation of these tools will create an infrastructure where government agencies can more easily target vulnerable communities, including immigrants and refugees,” the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, the Washington Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Greater Seattle Council of Churches said in a letter last year.

The victim in this incident spent a week in the hospital after breaking his arm, knee and face, KOMO News reported.

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Wilson’s office directed Fox News Digital in a press release in March in which he explained his position on the cameras, saying he was leaving the cameras in place but “temporarily suspending the pilot program” until we “end privacy and data controls, and take significant steps to strengthen our policies.”

Wilson acknowledged that “there is no doubt that these cameras make it easier to solve other crimes” including “serious ones like murder, but again, cameras are not the key to making our communities safer.”

“I want to admit that this is a controversial issue,” added Wilson. “For some people, seeing CCTV cameras in the area where they live or work or go to school makes them feel safe. For others, those same cameras make them feel not so safe.”

“Those feelings are important, because our quality of life is in part about our feelings of safety or lack thereof, and our sense that our city is a welcoming place designed to take our well-being and humanity into account.”

Wilson continued, “But precisely because different people and different communities deal with cameras differently, it is important to base the decision on emotions. It is important to base our actions on a thorough understanding of how cameras are used, the social benefits they provide, and any harm they cause or may cause.”

Last month, Fox News Digital report to city advocates who say they are struggling to find solutions as homelessness and open drug use spread on Seattle’s streets, amid growing concerns about the direction of Wilson’s new administration.

“You can just see the foil kind of hitting the streets like leaves in the fall,” Andrea Suarez, founder and executive director of We Heart Seattle, told Fox News Digital in an interview.

“What’s more common is seeing property damage in our parks and shared spaces. You’ll see Narcan used to reverse an overdose, so you’ll see cartridges. But at least we’re remodeling the bathroom to be gender neutral. I’m not [kidding] you, that’s where our priorities are.”