SEATTLE (AP) — Wearing helmets and wielding batons and rifles, Seattle police turned out in force at dawn Wednesday in the city’s “occupied” protest zone after the mayor ordered it cleared following two recent fatal shootings.
Officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder on several streets while others created a makeshift fence with their bicycles, using it to push dozens of protesters back away from the center of the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone just east of downtown. The group had occupied several blocks around a park for about two weeks after police abandoned a precinct station following standoffs and clashes that were part of the nationwide unrest over the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
One protest organizer, Derrek Allen Jones II, said some demonstrators attempted to stay but were surprised by the early intervention by officers who were “trampling everything I seen in sight, flipping tables.”
“People were trying to hold their ground but you could see the cops literally storm through people’s beds while they were sleeping. And literally say ‘If you don’t get out, we will force you out or arrest you,’” he said.
“Our job is to support peaceful demonstration but what has happened on these streets over the last two weeks is lawless and it’s brutal and bottom line it is simply unacceptable,” Police Chief Carmen Best said.
’I was just stunned by the amount of graffiti, garbage and property destruction,” Best said after she walked around the area.
“The recent public safety threats have been well documented,” Mayor Jenny Durkan said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. ”These acts of gun violence resulted in the tragic deaths of two teenagers, with multiple others seriously wounded. Despite continued efforts to deescalate and bring community together, this violence demanded action.”
Durkan also said while she supported the police in making arrests Wednesday, she doesn’t think many of those arrested for misdemeanors should be prosecuted. She also said she was committed to work that would dismantle systemic racism and build true community safety.
Best said in addition to the fatal shootings, robberies, assaults, violence and property crimes have occurred in the area in the last few weeks. She said she wanted police to move back into the precinct so officers could better respond to needs in the area. Protesters have said they should not be blamed for the violence in the area.
SEATTLE (AP) — Wearing helmets and wielding batons and rifles, Seattle police turned out in force at dawn Wednesday in the city’s “occupied” protest zone after the mayor ordered it cleared following two recent fatal shootings.
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