A suspect who has been on the run since fleeing Seattle in the wake of a shooting in the so-called Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone has been charged with murder.
Marcel Long, 18, who remains at large, was charged Wednesday with premeditated first-degree murder in the death of Lorenzo Anderson, a 19-year-old Seattle man who was killed on June 20.
The murder charge also carries a firearms enhancement.
Long, who also goes by the name Marcel Green and is known as "Celly Cell" on social media, has a last known address in Renton, according to the charges.
His bail was set at $2 million and he is scheduled to be arraigned August 19.
Lorenzo Anderson, 19, an aspiring rapper known as Lil Mob was fatally shot in Seattle Washington's Capitol Hill Protest Zone also known as CHOP on Saturday June 20, 2020
Marcel Long has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of Lorenzo Anderson near the CHOP protest zone on June 20.
Authorities said Long was caught on video chasing Anderson with a gun as the Anderson fled.
Detectives are also investigating a second fatal CHOP shooting June 29, which killed a 16-year-old boy and injured a 14-year-old boy.
Police cleared the six-block protest area east of downtown known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP on July 1 after demonstrators occupied the area for several weeks following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
On Monday, Seattle's police chief pleaded with city officials to 'stop mob rule and do the right thing' after 'aggressive' protesters marched on her home Saturday.
Carmen Best wrote a letter to the council two days after protesters showed up at her home Saturday night.
Best, who opposes a 50 per cent cut in police funding, said council members need to 'forcefully call for the end of these tactics.'
Protesters recently also appeared outside the homes of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and some people on the City Council as demonstrations continue following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Pictured: Police push demonstrators back atop a Black Lives Matter street mural in the area formerly known as CHOP during protests in Seattle on July 25, 2020 in Seattle, Washington
Best last month spoke out against a plan proposed by advocates to cut the police department budget by 50 per cent and reallocate the money to other community needs. 'We will be much less safe,' she warned.
The Seattle Times reports residents blocked a road into Best's neighborhood during the demonstrations.
Footage appears to show armed neighbors blocking the road. A protester says: 'We don't have guns, you're the ones with guns.'
Neighbor Jamie Roulstone said: 'It was not peaceful. They were here to intimidate. Scare people. Scare children. There were children out there and they were asking them what schools they went to.
They were yelling the most horrible things you've ever heard in your entire life.'
Best's letter said her neighbors 'were concerned by such a large group' and didn't allow protesters to 'trespass or engage in other illegal behavior weight loss pills in the area, despite repeated attempts to do so.'
Seattle's police chief urged the City Council to tell protesters to stop visiting the homes of elected officials and others during emotional debates over reducing funding for police
Meanwhile, Seattle residents have said calls to half the police budget are 'radical' and 'irresponsible' after violence and vandalism spread throughout the city during protests.
Around 300 people who phoned in to a city council meeting last week said the redistribution of around $85million in funds will 'hurt the vulnerable'.
'Defunding the police is a radical experiment that will hurt the vulnerable,' one woman claimed.
'Why are you defunding the police when many of you have called on the SPD for protection recently? We know you have. Why are you cutting protection for everyone else?'