Seattle: at least 23 arrested as officers clear police-free protest zone
Seattle police turned out in force on Wednesday at the city’s “occupied” protest zone, tore down demonstrators’ encampments and used bicycles to herd the protesters after the mayor ordered the area cleared following two fatal shootings in less than two weeks.
The move came after Seattle’s mayor, Jenny Durkan, issued an emergency executive order for protesters to vacate the area and declaring the gathering an “unlawful assembly”.
Television images showed police, many in riot gear, confronting dozens of protesters at the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” (Chop) zone that was set up near downtown following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Wearing helmets and wielding batons and rifles, officers converged on the area at dawn. Officers stood shoulder-to-shoulder on several streets while others created a makeshift fence with their bicycles, using it to push protesters back away from the center of the zone.
As residents of the neighborhood near the city’s downtown watched from balconies, police cleared out the protesters’ tents from a park within the zone and made sure no one was left in the park’s bathrooms. At one point, a loud bang was heard in the park, followed by a cloud of smoke.
At least 23 people had been arrested within a few hours as police worked to clear the area also dubbed the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (Chaz) by protesters and others who gathered there amid nationwide demonstrations and a reckoning over police reform, race relations and inequality.
People have occupied several blocks around a park and the Seattle police department’s east precinct for about two weeks after police abandoned the building following standoffs and clashes with protesters calling for racial justice and an end to police brutality in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota in May.
Citing a series of shootings that have taken place at the protest zone, Durkan said in the order that she was directing city departments to “respond to the observed and reported exigent life safety, public health and property issues in and around Cal Anderson Park Area”.
Police said the action on Wednesday was designed to protect the public. But protesters in the Capitol Hill neighborhood responded with chants and calls to leave them alone.
“Since demonstrations at the East Precinct area began on June 8th, two teenagers have been killed and three people have been seriously wounded in late-night shootings,” Seattle police said on Twitter. “Police have also documented robberies, assaults, and other violent crimes.
“Because suspects in recent shootings may still be in the area, and because numerous people in the area are in possession of firearms,” they said, “Seattle Police officers involved in this morning’s response will be equipped with additional protective gear.”
Cement barricades that remained in front of the Seattle police department east precinct building on Tuesday had been fortified by protesters with chunks of concrete and tarps.
There have been increasing calls by critics, including Donald Trump, to remove protesters from the Chop area east of downtown following the fatal shooting on Monday of a 16-year-old boy and the 20 June killing of a 19-yearold man.
In the wake of the police action, the US attorney general, Bill Barr, issued a press statement praising the operation. “There is a fundamental distinction between discussion of substantive issues – including addressing distrust of law enforcement by many in the African-American community – and violent defiance of the law,” Barr said.
Meanwhile, Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, began a media briefing in Washington DC by saying “Seattle has been liberated” – echoing some of the exaggerated claims made about the size and intention of Chop by conservative media and politicians.
Protesters say they should not be blamed for the violence in the area. People continued to add artwork, flowers and candles at a memorial for the 16-year-old on Tuesday.
The police chief, Carmen Best, has also said the shootings are obscuring the message of racial justice promoted by protesters. She called the zone “lawless and brutal” on Wednesday.
“As I have said, and I will say again, I support peaceful demonstrations. Black Lives Matter, and I too want to help propel this movement toward meaningful change in our community,” she said. “But enough is enough.”
Although the protest zone was initially home to hundreds of peaceful protesters, in the last 12 days, six people have been shot in the area, including the two who were killed. The violence has led to growing concern over the safety of the area.But those occupying Chop have argued that the shootings haven’t been connected with the zone and are no different from what the neighborhood might see under normal circumstances.The public art, which includes a large, colorful mural across the main road in the encampment that says “Black Lives Matter”, is expected to be preserved. And the mayor has said that Seattle’s parks and recreation department will look into creating a community garden and possibly a “conversation corner” in the area. Despite concerns that dismantling the protest zone could become violent, the process of removing activists and clearing out tents and barriers remained fairly peaceful as of mid-morning on Wednesday.
About 100 police officers were reported to be taking part in the clearance efforts and at one point they called for Seattle fire in response to a woman who may have been going into labor in the park, but the department later said they evaluated the woman and “she did not require any medical treatment or transport to the hospital”.
Seattle Black Collective Voice, a group of black leaders that has come out of Chop, said on Twitter that the movement had never been about the east precinct and the occupation had happened organically when police abandoned the building.
“The actions of SPD created #CHOP in so many ways,” the group said. “You’re welcome for the protection of the precinct, you can have it bc we never wanted it.”
The collective also reiterated the demands that they have repeatedly raised, which include defunding the police, using that money to invest in community health and services, and dropping criminal charges against protesters.