Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Family of Native man killed by Poulsbo police files civil rights lawsuit

Stonechild Chiefstick with his daughter in an undated family photo
Courtesy of Chiefstick family
Stonechild Chiefstick with his daughter in an undated family photo

The family of a Native man who was killed by a Poulsbo police officer two years ago has filed a lawsuit against the city and police officials. 

 

Stonechild Chiefstick was shot by officer Craig Keller on July 3, 2019, in front of a crowd that was gathered for a fireworks show on the Poulsbo waterfront. Keller and two other officers were responding to a report that Chiefstick had threatened someone with a screwdriver. Witnesses said Chiefstick lunged at officers with the tool.

 

Following an investigation by the Kitsap Critical Incident Response Team, the Kitsap County prosecutor determined the shooting was justified and did not file criminal charges against Keller. 

 

Stonechild Chiefstick
Credit Chiefstick family
/
Chiefstick family
Stonechild Chiefstick

Chiefstick was a longtime resident of Suquamish and a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana. 

 

The federal civil rights lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges Chiefstick was the victim of excessive force and brutality in violation of the Constitution. It also includes wrongful death claims under Washington state law. The filing includes a demand for a jury trial. 

 

Separately, the family is asking that the criminal case against Keller be reopened. The request is being considered by Gov. Jay Inslee, according to a news release. Inslee has been asked by Suquamish Chairman Leonard Forsman to refer the case to Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

 

As of Thursday afternoon, The Kitsap Sun reported that the City of Poulsbo had not yet been served with the lawsuit. 

 

“Craig Keller and the Poulsbo police will be held accountable. The consequences of that accountability will have ripple effects and result in the next human life being saved rather than taken at the hands of law enforcement,” Gabriel Galanda, an attorney representing the family, said in a news release.

 

The family held a news conference Thursday, announcing the lawsuit. 

 

“The death of my children’s father is added to the deaths of the thousands of kin who died when settlers and soldiers came to the Salish Sea,” said Trishandra Pickup, a Suquamish tribal member and mother to four of Stonechild’s six children. “We must keep fighting to be free from this violence.”

 

 

Kari Plog is a former KNKX reporter who covered the people and systems in Pierce, Thurston and Kitsap counties, with an emphasis on police accountability.