♪♪
-It's not just a way for them to learn about the FBI,
but it's also a way for them to always be a part of it.
-This special academy teaches everything
from counterintelligence to combating domestic terrorism.
-Like, I've been staring at these stacks for two decades,
and I can still find something I never saw before.
-It's home to one of the world's largest video archives,
but the history of Scarecrow Video
is quite a story in itself.
-It was the flag inside the camps...
-Learn why this man is traveling the country
to honor citizens by having them sign American flags.
These stories and more, next on "CityStream."
♪♪
-Hi, I'm Enrique Cerna,
and welcome to "CityStream" from Scarecrow Video.
Seattle's iconic video store is truly one of a kind.
It's the last remaining video rental shop in the city,
and with more than 145,000 titles,
it's one of the largest movie and TV archives in the world.
Much more on the history of Scarecrow Video just ahead.
We begin with the Seattle office of the FBI.
They're looking for you, but it's not what you think.
The Bureau's Citizens Academy enables community members
to gain a new understanding of federal law enforcement.
Brian Callanan takes a look.
-Hey, I'll brief you a little bit on counterterrorism here.
-When this class is in session...
-Domestic terrorism 'cause you see that in a lot of news.
-...the subject is always one of today's top stories.
-But the fact of the matter is,
it's probably the fastest-growing
counterintelligence threat there is.
-And the course material is not always easy to take in.
Welcome to the FBI Citizens Academy
at the Seattle field office.
-I'm going to address that head-on
because I can understand that there might be that perception.
-It's an 8 to 10-week course taught by people
like Assistant Special Agent in Charge Greg Austin.
-I want them to know, I think, our process and who we are.
I think one of the most interesting things
that people will see when they take this course
is they'll see the who that's behind the FBI.
-Greg's career started in finance,
though he'd thought about working for the FBI
in high school.
-I think it might have coincided with "The X-Files."
-But Greg says moving past the media's portrayals of the FBI
and explaining the Bureau's work on everything
from counterintelligence to domestic terrorism,
crimes on Indian reservations, civil rights violations,
and more helps the public see federal agents
as more than just a badge.
-Basically nothing more important to this organization
than being able to connect with the community.
It's the community that are the victims and witnesses
and sometimes subjects
that we need to connect with and understand.
-Administrative Officer Nakia Ray
helped launch the Academy in Seattle in 2004,
modeling it after
the Seattle Police Department's Community Academy,
with a focus on a broad audience.
-We have business leaders. We have civic leaders.
We have religious leaders.
-Candidates for the FBI course are nominated by FBI employees,
former academy graduates, and community leaders,
then selected by the Special Agent in Charge.
A few graduates have even gone on to work
for the FBI themselves.
-We do have some great success stories.
It's not just a way for them to learn about the FBI,
but it's also a way for them to always be a part of it.
-I didn't want to do it initially,
and the reason is because I'm on the front lines,
actually working directly with survivors of human trafficking
on a regular basis,
and I don't have any time.
-That's Christine Gilge,
founder of the Christian nonprofit Compassion Washington,
and she's glad she fit the FBI Academy into her schedule.
-We are so excited that we have expanded the territory.
-She made a connection with an Academy classmate
who's now helping her organization
provide free health care,
and she wants people to know the federal agents she works with.
To fight human trafficking may not always make the headlines,
but they're getting the job done.
-There is hope out there.
So what the FBI, what the agents are doing
are making a huge, significant difference.
They need to hear these stories more.
-But there's a lot more to the story...
-Yes.
-...at the FBI Academy's graduation day.
[ Gunshots ]
-Target red balloon.
-Share one copies.
Red balloon.
-All right, control, countdown.
Five, four,
three...
-Graduates and their families
not only witness the deadly precision of FBI snipers.
[ Gunshot ]
They get hands-on experience
at the Bureau's gun range themselves.
Plus, there's an up-close look
at how the FBI gathers evidence.
-There's a guy at the FBI laboratory,
and his whole entire job is shoes...
-And how the Bureau operates its crowd control units
and bomb squads, too.
-The FBI says it's trying to be as open as possible
about its tactics and techniques,
not only as a way to help people connect with the agency,
but also as a way to help its agents...
to gain some new perspective
and hopefully learn some things in return.
-You're right-handed or left-handed?
-Right. -Okay.
-That's Josh Storm,
an administrative secretary for the State Patrol
who went through the FBI Academy...
-You're ready to go now.
[ Gunshots ]
-Oh!
-...which he thinks all officers could benefit from,
now more than ever.
-I think we live in a time
where people in law enforcement are under the microscope,
so letting the public in
and getting them more familiar with what we're doing
and how we're helping, and that part of it,
I think that's important for people to see.
-It's a challenge for law enforcement nationwide
that the special agent in charge
for the FBI's Seattle field office, Rick Collodi,
takes very seriously.
-We've all heard that trust is the hardest to build
and the easiest to lose.
-He says the academy is a core part
of the Bureau's purpose to respond not just to crime,
but to all the needs of the public it's trying to serve.
-The effort is to build trust through our actions
and through our mission,
and that our community can have confidence
that the FBI and FBI Seattle
are fulfilling that mission to our community.
-It's a mission these academy graduates
are taking aim at themselves,
teaming up with the FBI on a lesson we can all learn from.
-We're all living on the same planet.
We're all community.
You know, they want to do things for the community.
At the end, we're all here to make a better place.
-Citizens academies like this are happening
in cities across the country.
To learn more, go to fbi.gov
and click on "How We Can Help You."
-For decades, it's been the place
to find old or obscure videos.
We explore the history
of Seattle's beloved Scarecrow Video
as "CityStream" continues.
♪♪
-Seattle folks love movies and movie theaters,
and they also love the homegrown video store,
which is still surviving, even thriving.
Of course, we're talking about this place,
Scarecrow Video.
Feliks Banel hits rewind for this view
into the history of Seattle's beloved video landmark.
♪♪
-All right, well, over here,
you've got all the used and new stuff for sale.
A lot of people sort of forget that we get new releases a lot.
-Matt Lynch works at Scarecrow Video on Roosevelt.
He's been there since 2003.
-The job at that point was mostly renting people movies
and putting the movies back on the shelves when they come back.
And so most of what you do all day
is have a big stack of movies under your arm,
and you have to learn where everything is,
or else it's going to take you forever to put it all away.
Some of my favorite little esoteric sections
are right here.
There's blaxploitation, "vroom" for car chase movies,
bikers, rednecks, truckers.
-I did my job.
-The store has only been there ten years longer than Matt.
-It's like I've been staring at these stacks for two decades,
and I can still find something I never saw before.
It's pretty amazing.
-There aren't too many video stores left in Seattle,
or really anywhere these days.
-I mean, you know, there are still video stores
up and running that have been started,
you know, in the meantime,
but they're certainly not as big as we are.
-But Scarecrow is special, and Matt is special, too.
-I just know -- I know myself pretty well.
I like it here. This is where I belong.
-Of course, I'm not bright about doing things.
-One of his favorite movies was "The Wizard of Oz,"
and we really liked the character of the Scarecrow
because he had lots of heart and no brains.
And then it rhymed -- "scarecrow," "video,"
so we're like, "Okay, that's it, we're doing it."
-Rebecca Soriano has spent a lot of time
at Scarecrow Video.
She's the co-founder of the place along with George Latsios.
[ Tape rewinding ]
-George is a really cool guy.
-Well, I always wanted to have a video store.
I always loved movies and such, so...
Dream is to own your own movie theater,
your own, and of course, it's impossible these days.
So the next best thing was the video store.
-George was my husband,
and he and I met in Pennsylvania.
He wanted to have a video store,
and it was going to be the best video store ever.
He explained it to me,
and I bought into it and I said, "Okay."
So I remember when we moved in,
this was huge.
We didn't have enough tapes to fill it.
So the front part of the store was a place to drink coffee.
-That's interesting.
-George and Rebecca had a plan to buy a house
and work their day jobs for a while
until they had enough money saved to open a store,
but George couldn't wait that long,
so he quit his job.
But somehow they found a way to rent a storefront.
Before Roosevelt,
the first Scarecrow Video was at 65th and Latona.
-So it was tiny. It was --
I don't remember how many square feet,
but it wasn't very big.
We had 400 movies, approximately. I'm not sure.
George was in charge of kind of organizing the videos,
and I made the posters.
There's still one here. It makes me laugh.
The signs, I mean. Um, anyway...
Some of these signs I made myself,
which is amazing.
They're still here.
-Scarecrow Video was not an overnight success.
Rebecca was teaching school
and working in the store in the evenings,
but the eclectic and growing collection
was attracting fans and building a following,
like musician Kurt Cobain and film critic Roger Ebert.
[ Telephone ringing ]
-One day I got a phone call from somebody,
and they were like,
"Roger Ebert just helped me find a movie in your store."
And I'm like, "Yeah, that's cool, isn't it?"
[ Chuckles ] It was so awesome.
-By the early '90s,
Scarecrow had outgrown its Latona home.
It was time to find someplace bigger.
-Just having one or a handful of great video stores.
And I don't mean the same town --
I want to scatter them everywhere.
Maybe one in Frisco, maybe one in Tokyo, one in London.
-The new Scarecrow Video was busier than ever.
Then tragedy struck.
George was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor.
There were many tough years.
George doubled down on working at Scarecrow
for as long as his health allowed.
Eventually, he went back to his native Greece.
The couple divorced, amicably, says Rebecca,
and they sold the store.
And then, sadly, George passed away.
-He was the most radical guy I ever knew.
-We had various people who wanted it,
and then we had two people who came in who were film buffs.
They were also Microsoft employees,
and they had the money to buy it.
We lucked out. Totally lucked out.
We could have -- it could have been a disaster.
-Speaking of disasters, besides Scarecrow,
have you seen many video stores around lately
that still rent video tapes?
-Rewind!
[ Beep ]
-Now we keep all the video tapes back here.
They take up a lot of space.
We built these custom roller shelves to keep them organized.
-Or have you seen any video stores, period?
Thanks to passionate staff and customers,
Scarecrow Video has found a way to survive.
Thrive even.
[ Computer beeps ]
-You know, I think
that Scarecrow is a really interesting jewel
in Seattle's crown.
I mean, it's the biggest video store on planet Earth
in this city that's become so sort of tech
and convenience-oriented.
It sort of stands as a piece of that DIY spirit
that Seattle is built on.
-Part of that DIY spirit
means radically shifting how Scarecrow does business.
In fact, they're technically no longer
even considered a business.
-On this live stream fundraiser,
we are going to attempt to raise $30,000.
-While we're a nonprofit, we're only nonprofit in 2014,
so that's a big part of it.
That allows us to fundraise,
some memberships, things like that.
We started our Rent by Mail program
as a pilot program just before COVID,
and then when COVID struck,
that kept us alive during the lockdown.
-That's awesome, man.
-Rebecca hasn't been officially part of Scarecrow for decades,
but she still comes back every now and then,
which is good
because she knows some of the best stories about the place.
-We used to tease that this whole wing right here
was funded by Kurt Cobain and his late fees.
-But you don't have to be a rock star
or a famous film critic to appreciate
and be welcomed by Scarecrow Video.
There's something here for everyone.
♪♪
-To me right now, it's overwhelming
because, I mean, I'm walking down the aisles
and it's so much more than I remember,
and it's like, I could spend hours in here.
I just don't even know where to start.
-But I didn't scare ya?
-Scarecrows don't bring the crows.
They chase them away.
-Even though George is gone
and the video rental business has disappeared
from nearly everywhere else,
people keep coming back to Scarecrow
to celebrate George's legacy
and to rent some pretty great movies, too.
♪♪
-That's a wrap.
-Scarecrow Video is in the U District
and open for business every day except Monday,
and with a video catalog of more than 145,000 titles,
you should be able to find what you're looking for.
-Up next, he travels the country to honor citizens
with a very special connection to World War II.
His story as "CityStream" continues.
♪♪
-With Veterans Day approaching,
we share a story about a California man
dedicated to justice who's traveling the country
gathering signatures, not for a petition,
but to sign a flag
as a way of acknowledging Americans of Japanese descent
who served during World War II,
and also those sent to incarceration camps.
The man's name is Johnny Gogo.
Producer Randy Eng followed him
on his most recent trip to the northwest.
♪♪
-The Japanese American families
that were incarcerated during World War Two,
that was mass incarceration without due process of law.
The more I thought about that,
the more I realized how wrong that was,
and I needed to do what I could
to help educate future generations
so that we don't ever do that to any of our citizens,
our minority members of our community ever again.
Each and every person that signs the flag
has their own unique story
that's very important and needs to be remembered.
[ Call box beeps ] -Front desk.
-We're here to see Krista for the flag signing event.
-Yeah, please come in.
-We're at the Lakeshore.
We're going to meet World War II MIS veteran Junks Ikeda,
along with probably about ten other camp survivors.
Hey, Junks. Good to see you again.
This is flag number eight.
The 48-star flag was the flag
of the United States during World War II,
and it was the flag inside the camps.
And I wanted to honor those that are still surviving
that were in the camps back then.
I thought it would be a nice tribute to you and your families
to have you put your name on this 48-star flag
and then donate this flag to a museum.
Do you remember which camp you were at?
-Tule Lake. -Tule Lake?
-I'll write just "Pinedale."
-Okay, Pinedale, yes, the assembly center.
Minidoka, okay.
-I was just a little kid when I was in camp,
but there were so many good memories of my childhood.
But then I also know about the pain
and suffering of the older folks.
-Junks, can I have you come up?
You served in the MIS, yes?
-Yeah.
-Can I put my family?
-Yes, please do.
Thank you so much, Mary.
-This is very different from what it was like
80 years ago.
It was bad.
It's a proud moment because we were so spit upon and despised.
-Print your name
and then print the camp, Minidoka, okay?
-If you're single? -Yes, when you're single.
-There are not enough people
that remember what it was like in the old days.
The recognition is late,
but yes, oh, it makes a vast difference.
-Oh, God, it feels so good.
It's really an honor.
And I hope people remember.
-Thank you so much.
Thank you for signing. Good to see you.
-One, two, three,
cheese.
-This is a labor of love.
That's what keeps me going.
I'm a judge in Superior Court of California,
Santa Clara County, San Jose.
About 8 or 9 years ago,
through my participation in the lecture series
about Fred Korematsu Day,
I learned more about the Japanese American incarceration
and wanted to do more to help honor their family's legacy
and their loyalty to the United States.
Hi, Shig. Good to see you again.
-Good to see you.
-That's when I came up with the creative project
of obtaining a 48-star American flag.
So you'll write Shibutani, Tule, and Heart Mountain.
That first flag filled up very quickly.
And so while I had set an artificial time limit
for my involvement in the flag signing project,
it just has continued.
We're now on flag number nine.
-And I'm glad this is happening now,
because he wouldn't talk about it in the beginning
when we were growing up.
-You know, of all the bad things that happened,
some good things do happen,
and these things, that's life, you know?
-All right, Shig. Always good to see you.
The first flag that I started,
I knew that there was a large Japanese American population
here in Seattle, in Washington.
And it was during that process that I met Dale.
-Having Johnny, who is not a Japanese American,
take this on, to me, is amazing.
-You grab that end.
-I don't know if it closes old wounds,
because I think you have to be able
to recognize the injustice of that time.
That was a big black mark in American history,
and I say American history
because it's really part of American history.
It's not just Japanese American history.
-Mayor. -Yes.
-Hey, Johnny Go Go.
-Yes, Johnny.
-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you, too.
My mother was interned with her brothers and sisters
in Minidoka.
Signing the flag is very emotional.
It affects my lens on how I lead as a mayor,
because that's one of the pain points
that we have as we move forward in our commitment
to all communities, that there's been some pain.
And so out of pain comes joy and hope.
-Appreciate it.
I'm going to have Kim sign this flag, too, now,
because this flag is going to remain here in Seattle.
And this flag right now I'm donating to the NVC.
-Oh, that's great.
-Thank you so much for, you know,
the efforts that you're making on...
you know, on your own dime and on your own time
to recognize so many of these people
who need to be remembered.
You know, my mother, her favorite line
was, "Okage sama de."
Sometimes, it can't be helped.
But we endure.
We move on.
-It's the living stories that are really important.
It's about pride and honor.
For so long, it was buried in history.
-That flag,
oh, that's quite an -- a deal.
-It has certainly been an incredible journey.
It'll end when folks stop donating flags to me.
Thank you so much.
You know, that'll be the natural process.
♪♪
-Johnny Go Go does all of his traveling at his own expense,
and he may soon return to the Pacific Northwest
since he discovered another senior center
with many Japanese American residents.
Next on "CityStream,"
this is the one place history comes alive
thanks to the enthusiasm of one man.
♪♪
-Seattle has plenty of great indoor museums,
but there are also a few outdoor places
where history is everywhere you set foot.
And on this Halloween, our Feliks Banel
felt this next location was the perfect place to visit.
-This is Calvary Cemetery.
It's a historic resting place situated on a hillside
on the south edge of Ravenna.
And this is Jim Mueller,
our guide for a tour delving deep into Seattle's past
and visiting the graves of some of the city's
most prominent citizens.
♪♪
-Rosellini's --
Governor Rosellini is up here to the right.
And then this here is Andy Hill.
Andy Hill was a state senator
for the state of Washington.
-Jim Mueller's job at Seattle's Calvary Cemetery
requires many skill sets.
Tour guide, salesman, chaplain, and sometimes even comedian.
And when she called up, she says,
"I want to -- wish to bury my husband out at Calvary."
And I asked her, "Do you want the Republican section
or the Democratic section?"
And she finally says, "You're kidding me, right?"
I said, "Yes, I'm kidding."
-Humor may not be the first thing that comes to mind
when a loved one has passed away,
but it's often perfectly appropriate in the work Jim does
at the cemetery in Ravenna that dates to 1889.
-I make sure that everything is in order between the church,
the funeral home and us,
and that there's going to be no surprises when we --
the burial takes place here at the cemetery.
-The incredible hillside views from 40 acres of land
in the middle of residential Seattle
are clues that Calvary Cemetery has a long history.
It's been part of the local Catholic diocese
for more than 13 decades.
Jim Mueller has been working here for only 13 years,
but helping families in a difficult time
has become something of a calling.
-You know, with what you're going through,
God bless.
Sometimes they have a look of total relief on their face
where, "Oh, my God, it's finally over."
Other times, you know, their eyes are hollow.
They have a blank look and something totally unexpected.
You have to have a caring heart to do what I do.
-It sounds like a cliché, but Mueller, in his own way,
makes Calvary Cemetery and the people buried there come alive,
especially on the golf cart history tours,
which have become something of a specialty for him.
-Right here, you'll see the third marker over
is Dave Beck,
and he's buried right next to his son,
and he lived to be 99 years old.
Coming up here, Papasedero was a baseball coach
in the Catholic school system for many, many years.
-Along with figures from sports and politics,
including both of Washington's Catholic governors,
one a Democrat, one a Republican,
are people recognizable for other, more esoteric reasons.
-A gentleman named Lowell Firnstahl.
He was the little boy on Sunny Jim Peanut Butter.
He died in some type of athletic accident at age 18.
-Along with the face of local peanut butter,
Calvary is also home to certified heroes.
-Also down this way is Raymond Davis,
and Raymond Davis saved 25 shipmates
when the boiler blew up
and was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
-Part of Mueller's job involves interacting
with cemetery visitors,
like the guy he found once at Governor Rosellini's grave,
who had some old bumper stickers.
-I pulled over there in my golf cart.
"What are you doing?"
And he goes, "I'm cleaning out my dad's garage,
and these were from the 1950s,
and I was going to put them on Governor Rosellini's headstone."
I said, "You can't do that. You can't do that."
-Most of the people interred at Calvary Cemetery
aren't famous former governors, beloved coaches, or war heroes.
They're just people,
regular people from in and around Seattle
who lived their lives
and were loved by their family and friends.
When that time comes for each of us to go,
it's nice to think that somebody will remember us
and share our story the way Jim Mueller does so beautifully
for so many of those who've gone to their rest
at Calvary Cemetery.
♪♪
-Jim Mueller has since retired from his job
at Calvary Cemetery,
but he says visitors are always welcome
during regular hours,
and admission is always free.
♪♪
-That wraps up this edition of "CityStream"
from Scarecrow Video.
If you'd like to see more outstanding
Seattle Channel programs,
go to our website seattlechannel.org
and search for "feature shows."
I'm Enrique Cerna. Thank you for watching.
♪♪