An 86-year-old disabled veteran has spent a month’s worth of his Social Security payments on a billboard demanding action over crime on Seattle’s Aurora Avenue.
Victor Fleming, who has lived in the area since 1955, paid for the sign after growing frustrated by what he described as persistent violence and criminal activity along the north Seattle corridor.
The billboard was displayed for two weeks and carried a sharply worded message attacking the city’s handling of crime. Fleming said he was prepared to pay for it if it prompted officials to act.
“The sun goes down, they come out,” he said, describing the people he holds responsible for the trouble in the area.
Crime concerns on Aurora Avenue
Fleming’s protest comes amid renewed concern over gun violence on Aurora Avenue North. Seattle police said a 20-year-old woman was shot in the abdomen in the 12500 block of the road in Northgate shortly after 11pm on Thursday.
Police said the woman had earlier been involved in an altercation with a man at a nearby hotel. Detectives allege that the man later approached her in a black SUV and shot her before driving away. She was taken to Harborview Medical Centre in a critical condition and the suspect remained at large.
Residents have also told city leaders that violence has become an increasing threat to people living near the road. At a public safety meeting on Wednesday, one resident, identified as Rick, said concrete barriers had been installed near North 102nd Street to stop gunfire and vehicles from reaching residential streets.
“We now have large cement barriers to block Aurora from us on 102nd so that the gun battles don’t come raging up the street,” he said.
Mayor Katie Wilson has previously acknowledged the seriousness of the situation, describing conditions on Aurora as “unacceptable”. In June, she ordered street closures and barriers at North 102nd, 100th, 98th and 96th streets, while directing Seattle police to intensify enforcement and investigations targeting violent offenders, illegal guns and trafficking networks.
At Wednesday’s meeting, residents raised concerns about drug use, prostitution and shootings near homes, parks and businesses. A representative of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office said 311 felony cases had been charged in north Seattle during 2026.
Veteran doubts city officials will respond
Wilson told the meeting that improving public safety would require several city and regional agencies to work together, including police, prosecutors and other parts of the criminal justice system.
Fleming, however, said he remained doubtful that his complaints would receive a meaningful response from City Hall, despite contacting the mayor’s office and council representatives.
“I was willing to do so to get somebody to get off their dead butt and do something,” he said of the billboard.
He added that he was waiting to see whether officials would contact him, using his nickname, “Blue Boy”.
