(Image: Nate Gowdy/Seattle Gay News by permission to CHS)
Two women were arrested Saturday after an East Precinct squad car window was busted out during a protest march against Seattle Police Department violence.
One group organizing the march said it was seeking justice against SPD officer Ian Birk and called on the King County prosecutor to file charges against the officer in the killing of JT Williams.
The arrests came after the group marched from Westlake to the East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine and a window of an SPD cruiser parked on the street was busted with what SPD says was a hammer. During their attempt to take the suspect into custody, SPD officers were blocked by the crowd including the two women eventually arrested for obstruction. The scene was nearly identical to confrontations last spring when members of the same group involved in Saturday’s protest also marched through the streets of Pike/Pine.
The full SPD report on the incident is here:
On February 12th, at approximately 1:30 PM, a demonstration occurred at Westlake Park. At the conclusion of he demonstration, the demonstration turned into a march, with West Precinct bicycle officers monitoring the march. The group marched through downtown and then eastbound on Pike Street. As the group march, members of the group would pull large items, such as newspaper stands and sandwich boards into the streets. This caused the Bicycle officers to flank the group on both sides to prevent any further damage to private property. The group eventually made its way up to the East Precinct, located at 12th Avenue and East Pine Street. At that time, an unknown suspect used a hammer to break out the driver’s side window of an unoccupied police car parked on East Pine Street. Officers attempted to contact the suspect in the crowd, but other demonstrators prevented officers from getting to the suspect. The suspect was able to slip back into the crowd and disappear. Officers arrested two women for obstructing. The rest of the demonstration dispersed. The two women, ages 20 and 26, were later booked into the King County Jail.
Here are details of the Saturday march:
Justice Will not be served until Birk is in Jail, Justice for John Williams, Demand Satterberg charge Birk Now!
Demand that Prosecutor Satterberg charge SPD cop Ian Birk with the murder of John T. Williams. We need to make this happen. No cop has ever been charged off an inquest in Washington State history. We need to bring a strong, visible, determined force of people into the streets of all backgrounds to say we will not stop protesting until there is real justice for John T Williams. Police brutality happens everyday in this country, hundreds are killed from police brutality every year. Stand together to say enough is enough! more…
Seattle Affiliate of October 22 Coalition to Stop Police Brutality
One thing I don’t understand is how breaking the window of a random police car is in any way involved in claiming justice for the murder of John T. Williams?
it in no way accomplishes that. It just gives a bad name to the people who are trying to get a legitimate message across about a police officer they believe should be prosecuted.
Same thing happened with anarchists during WTO
The “update” regarding criminal history is extremely misleading.
@lathams1
that wasn’t the justice part; pulling sandwich boards and newspaper stands into the street was.
it’s the kinds of actions reported here that make it highly unlikely that i’ll ever take people marching in protests like this seriously.
“As the group marched, members of the group would pull large items, such as newspaper stands and sandwich boards into the streets.”
Apparently they were also protesting against vending machine and signage violence.
what, exactly, is misleading about it? the two suspects were in jail. one had no record and was released. the other had a district court appearance in 2007 and is still in custody.
I would like to add that I think they were right about one thing: Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony. You can’t expect to wield supreme executive power just because some watery tart threw a sword at you.
An assault like this on our neighborhoods precinct is an assault on all of us. No matter what the feelings about recent events this is our city, not a pack of a-holes smashing car windows and destroying private property. The act is cowardly. If you have a problem with SPD and want to look like a real tough guy find an officer, square off, and see how it works out for you. My guess is that the little pimple chested fuck that broke the window would find himself tied in a knot and on his way to to the hospital.
How much do they pay you over time to write for the police on websites like this?
Yes, you could square off with an officer and find yourself tied in a knot and on your way to to the hospital.
Or you could be a half-deaf woodcarver with a closed knife in your hand, just crossing the street minding your own business, and find yourself dead before you got to the hospital.
I agree that this kind of acting-out is cowardly, and also would say that it is counter-productive to the message protestors were attempting to express.
But obviously “squaring off” against a police officer is a totally inappropriate way to protest too. It would only give the officer a legal way to respond with force, and perhaps violence.
As noted above:
“We need to bring a strong, visible, determined force of people into the streets of all backgrounds to say we will not stop protesting until there is real justice for John T Williams. “
May be a worthy cause, but it is surely not served if the march consists (at least as seen in the pictures above) so prominently of masked, hooded, black-clothed youths carrying big sticks. Might I suggest that to get noticed by the main-stream you would want to have NOBODY on your march dressed as such a stereotypical archetype of the “Eugene Anarchist”.
Who should you mobilize for such an effort? Kids in strollers, old ladies, people of color, or (better yet) a varied group of people who look as though they were transplanted straight from a mall or had just come out of Costco.
I claim that my prior use of that quote on this site was (slightly) more relevant to the topic under discussion:
http://www.capitolhillseattle.com/2010/08/02/transformation-
although their point is correct, the fact they were trashing newspaper stands and vandalized a squad car robs them of any legitimacy.
Carried to the extreme of breaking windows is not the way to go. All agree. But the downtown protest had the media coverage and the crowd.
Those of you who think massive ongoing protests are neat and tidy have been spending too much time watching commerical TV slop, fueled by big money. No protest is neat and tidy. I remember a giant anti-war action where the chant was, “Fuck the War!” , and the Catholic church ladies objected with indignation and moved away to light giant candles.
Early civil rights actions in both the black and gay communities were suit and tie events. Course the bigots caved at once seeing all the fashion decorum. No.
The Williams killing has shamed this city. People are very unhappy about the actions of a rogue cop. And that is the real issue. What next in that affair?
I will dress up for the trial.
This just pisses the cops off more… They want the police to act more civil than they should do the same. Violence begets violence. I doubt any of these people that participate actually vote to make a change. Also, I am sick of the homeless being defended. Most of them are crazy and cracked out. They don’t deserve to be shot but give the cops a break. They put their life on the line to protect us everyday! I wish we had the budget to bring back mental institutions so the homeless problem would be lessened. Less drugs, less crime, and I wouldn’t be hit up for money every time I walk to the store. Plus our hood would be much cleaner and not smell like crap and piss all the time. Just my $.02.
…so as a good citizen you are willing to be killed, just one of those things, because the cops have a hard job? Nice offer if that is what you are saying …
Are any of us surprised that this happened? Is it not yet another somewhat predictable consequence of Ian Birk’s actions? Right or wrong, Ian Birk has caused many problems for the city and especially for the police department, and this is by no means over. If I made a highly questionable judgment call that cost my company this kind of money and aggravation, I’d be out on my ass. I don’t know what criminal penalties Ian Birk may deserve, but he’s clearly not a competent police officer and should be removed as quickly as possible.
@Larry, your comment makes absolutely no sense….
So this is a march against violence and that’s what we see. Not exactly something to praise.
I don’t get paid by anyone. I love this neighborhood, I work downtown. I am just not a slave to the prevailing cap hill belief system when it comes to our officers. It may come from being raised back east or being employed by DESC, I just have a different view of reality and our city.
you’re making people with legitimate issues with SPD look bad. just go back home to the suburbs/mall/ whence you came. violence isn’t exactly a good tactic when you are protesting police VIOLENCE.
IDIOTS.
If activists think vandalism can make a message more potent, I’d rather see one carving knife* epoxied to the precinct for each citizen outraged by JT William’s murder = A much, much, more accurate and symbolic statement of how ridiculous Birk’s choice was to use lethal force against such a ‘threat’.
*closed, of course.
The outrage following the shooting of John Williams is very justified and not a good example of “defending the homeless.” From all the evidence, it seems he really was innocent and not engaging in any threatening behavior.
That said, I agree with you that Seattle’s tolerance for the homeless has gone too far. Most of them do have shelter of some kind, and have access to free hot meals every day of the week (they are panhandling for drugs/alcohol/cigarettes….not food). I also agree that those with significant mental illness would be better off in an institution, and our neighborhoods would be better off too, but in order for this to happen there must be a significant tightening of the lax “involuntary commitment” laws.
hijack tangent here, but let’s get the homeless facts right.
Does “most” = more than half? Yes, more than half of the 8400 homeless here had some version of “shelter”.
But
That’s a pretty low bar to set.
Cal: -With 2400 or more homeless on the streets per night (and another 6000 in emergency shelters and transitional housing) here, having shelter for ‘most’ isn’t good enough, calhoun. As a society, how we treat our least fortunate members speaks volumes …and often ends being how history will judge us.
If you honestly still have the illusion that there are so many lovely shelters, then visit these places tonight around midnight: under I-5 at cherry and james (the carpool parking lot); in the doorways of S. Jackson street from Alaskan to I-5; under the boren, pike, pine, lakecityway and lakeview/mercerstreet -overpasses; underneath the convention ctr / along the express lanes; any doorjamb or loading dock within 3 blocks of Taylor and John; the front & side doors of the Paramount; the front doors of the downtown nordstrom, gap, macys, et al; 10 of the busstops in uptown and about 100 of the night owl buses; and the 600 or so trucks & cars parked in free parking spots that are sporting flat tires (phinney ave, 8th Ave NE, 11th, 5th and yesler, parking garages, etc).
Sorry, but the ‘there’s shelter and hot meals for all’ argument? aka “are there no prisons, are there no workhouses?” argument, holds no water with me: you could use a visit from dickens’ three ghosts who could show just how one hot meal 3-5 days a week does not ‘an elimination of hunger’ -nor a cure for the complex causes of homelessness- make.
Also: Alison Eisinger did a survey and found that “In a single 24-hour period 247 adults and 307 kids were turned away” from shelters in seattle because they were full / past capacity.
Meanwhile, your elected officials are making you a liar by cutting staff and funding for those hot meals and shelters you assume are taking care of everyone.
http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1056020
http://www.homelessinfo.org/one_night_count/2011_results.php
Outrages: Reagan cut the tax on the wealthiest and severely cut mental health programs at the same time: the wealthiest of our nation used to pay 50-70% or more income tax. They pay 38% or less now, so funding for any significant mental health care has dried up.
I’m proud they stood up and showed they are willing to do whatever it takes to get justice. Sometimes when needs for justice don’t get heard you need to make them more clear and pressing. I don’t think the destruction was illegitimate.
Smithy: I agree with you completely that taxes should be raised on the truly wealthy, or at least their tax cut should be eliminated…I was very disappointed that Mr. Obama caved to the Republicans on this issue. We do need more government funding for mental health services, along with more temporary institutionalization of the mentally ill, so that they can get effective treatment and so that society can be protected from their sometimes-violent behavior.
I am glad that King County and the city of Seattle have been making a significant effort to end homelessness, and real progress has already been made.
However, I think that many of those camping on our streets are there because they choose to be there (mainly so that they can drink alcohol), and not because there is a shortage of shelter beds, except possibly for a few nights each year.
How exactly does property destruction “get justice?”
Talk about illogical….