Protesters demand police accountability following death of Steven Kissack

Two groups of protesters marched Sunday afternoon to where Steven Kissack, a longtime Juneau resident experiencing homelessness, was fatally shot in a confrontation with police six days earlier. Those taking part in the protest denounced what they called an excessive response by officers that resulted in an unnecessary killing.

Kissack, 35, and his malamute companion, Juno, were a familiar presence to many people in downtown Juneau. His death — captured on videos widely seen on social and traditional media websites — has generated intense responses on behalf of both Kissack and the police, with Sunday’s protests being the first sizable public demonstrations against the officers’ actions.

“Steve was extremely beloved by our entire community,” said Eulaysia Rayne, who organized one protest that started outside the downtown Juneau Public Library. “Like everybody knew him and his dog, but he’s unable to speak. So we have to make a voice for him. Somebody has to support him, even if he’s gone.”

She and about a dozen other Juneau residents were in a small group decorating signs outside the library when they were joined by about 30 other protesters marching from the Alaska State Capitol. Taking a lead in advocacy efforts at that protest was Bonilyn Parker, gathering signatures for a letter she plans to submit during the next Juneau Assembly meeting July 29 calling for action to ensure “this will never happen again on our streets.”

“My bigger goal is to just have a united voice from as many people in town as possible saying this needs attention now,” she said in an interview before the Capitol protest began. “I don’t have the answers right now. I don’t have the solutions. But I think we can demand as a community that this be addressed and fixed because the way that this was handled put everybody in town in danger — every visitor, every employee, every person — because bullets entered multiple different businesses during the middle of the day on one of the busiest streets in town.”

Once the two groups of protesters connected, they began a second march through downtown Juneau to the location on Front Street where Kissack was shot, chanting slogans and waving signs highly critical of the officers involved in the shooting. Greeting the protesters when they reached Front Street were several friends of Kissack’s gathered around memorials to him— consisting of flowers, photos and an assortment of items people associated with Kissack — placed in storefront doorways and the spot on the street where he was shot.

As the protesters, Kissack’s friends and curious passerbys watched, a letter signed by “the Kissack family” — including his brother and others who live in Florida — was read by Rowena Brockway, one of the protest leaders who said she experienced homelessness when she was 15 years old.

“There are no words that can describe our unbearable pain for the loss of our beloved brother Steven,” she read. “Our time with him on this Earth has been unfairly taken. His life has been unfairly taken.”

At the same time, the letter states, “the outreach our family has received from the beautiful people of Juneau is wonderfully overwhelming. In moments of our intolerable grief you have kindly stepped in. You have graciously given your time and effort for justice for Steven. We cannot thank you enough.”

Participants in the protest then walked to Marine Park, with some continuing to Bill Overstreet Park, chanting as they walked and expressing opinions during stops about what happened to Kissack.

“I (expletive) love that guy,” Jonathan James, who like Kissack has long been an unhoused resident of Juneau, shouted to the crowd while they were clustered at Marine Park. “He was the best dude ever. He never did anything to anyone. He was always generous.”

Kissack was shot after an encounter that began when he was approached by a Juneau Police Department officer as a suspect in an assault that occurred the previous day, according to a statement provided last Tuesday by Juneau Police Chief Derek Bos. Kissack refused orders to put down the knife and, after additional officers were called to the scene and fired non-lethal bean bags at him, he suddenly ran while still holding the knife and was shot multiple times.

James, while noting Kissack “chose this lifestyle…so he’s on the streets because he wanted to be,” also said police should have been familiar with his behavior during the encounter since he was often seen handling a knife at his sidewalk camping spots.

“They should have not (expletive) shot him,” James said. “All he was doing was flipping his knife around. They all knew he was non-violent.”

Among those offering condolences to James during Sunday’s events was Jamiann S’eiltin Hasselquist, regional healing catalyst for Haa Tóoch Lichéesh, who was carrying an abalone shell containing smoldering cedar, sweet grass and sage to provide what she called healing fumes. Hasselquist said she frequently encountered Kissack since he often camped at a spot near her office on the same street he was shot.

“The office is right above the street there, and so on my way to and from work I would sometimes stop and just say hello, or offer a dollar or two,” she said. “He never asked for money — I would just say ‘here’s a couple of bucks.’ He was always very kind. I miss his presence down there.”

The protests were seen by hundreds of cruise ship passengers and other observers. Members of one family visiting from Skiatook, Oklahoma, said they learned about Kissack’s death from some people visiting one of his memorials on Front Street. They said it reminded them of a prominent case in their hometown where a homeless man and his dog were killed in a hit-and-run collision.

“Being a (registered nurse) and working in the ER you see a lot of mental health homeless people and they’re in crisis all the time,” said Kristi Castleberry, noting a lack of treatment is a widespread problem. “They can’t get access.”

Her husband, Michael, said he’s a former police officer who’s had encounters with people experiencing homelessness. He emphasized he doesn’t know all the details of Kissack’s death, but during an encounter where a homeless person is holding a knife “there’s many ways to handle that situation.”

“I don’t think law enforcement knows how to handle it,” Michael Castleberry said. “I don’t think the level of education is there.”

One of the primary outcomes many protesters said they want from Kissack’s death is better training and responses to such situations.

“My biggest thing is he really didn’t have to die,” Marley Webster said. “Police are trained multiple different ways on how to restrain.”

Yolanda Fulmer said she is demanding transparency from the Juneau Police Department.

“I’m here, not only as a member of the community, but also supporting the Native community as well,” she said. “We have a crisis with unhoused relatives living on the streets. And I feel like our community has an inherent right to feel safe. And right now we do not feel safe. And I am here to push for answers. We need answers. We’re not getting those answers. I don’t feel like the JPD report that was put out there is very clear in what the cause was, and now they’re passing this off to the Bureau of Investigation. So I would like to hear more from our city. I would like to hear more from JPD as to why we are scared now.”

JPD requested the Alaska Bureau of Investigation, responsible for investigations within Alaska State Troopers’ jurisdiction, take the lead in investigating Kissack’s death, according to Bos’ statement. Upon the completion of ABI’s investigation, the Office of Special Prosecutions will review the case to make a final determination if the use of lethal force was justified or not.

Ariilana Shodda-Lee said a protest will be organized every Wednesday until “change happens and justice is served.”

“I am supporting the cause personally because I have fallen to homelessness,” Ariilana Shodda-Lee said. “And if this is how we treat our homeless for loitering, then I want to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz.garrett@juneauempire.com or (907) 723-9356. Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.

(Video by Jasz Garrett / Juneau Empire)