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Day of anti-police protests planned with marches on Capitol Hill’s East Precinct — UPDATE

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UPDATE 4:18 PM by Sumedha Majumdar: A group of about 30 protesters marched from Garfield with chants of “Hands up, don’t shoot” and “Being black is not a crime” before assembling in front of the East Precinct around 4 PM. “We the community will police the police,” one speaker said, addressing the crowd and the group of police officers assigned to the protest. Streets in the area were partially closed but the rally has been peaceful and there have been no arrests.

"We belong together. We wanna be the the best we can be for you but when you start breaching the law and breaking the law, we have to do something. We can't just turn a blind eye and I hate to tell you this but this is what I tell my kids. Just because you're Black doesn't give you the right to do something wrong and then jump up and say they did this because I'm Black. We need more people who understand what is going on in the Black community." -- East Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis, addressing the crowd

“We wanna be the the best we can be for you but when you start breaching the law and breaking the law, we have to do something. We can’t just turn a blind eye and I hate to tell you this but this is what I tell my kids. Just because you’re Black doesn’t give you the right to do something wrong and then jump up and say they did this because I’m Black. We need more people who understand what is going on in the Black community.” — East Precinct commander Capt. Pierre Davis, addressing the crowd

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Original report: The heartiest of activist souls will take to the drenched streets of Seattle’s Central District and Capitol Hill Wednesday afternoon and into the evening as part of protests against “police brutality and harassment of youth of color in Seattle.” The Garfield High School Black Student Union’s March for Ferguson begins at the 23rd Ave school at 3:30 PM. Organizers tell CHS the plan is to march to SPD’s East Precinct headquarters at 12th and Pine. Meanwhile, the annual October 22nd anti-police rally and march will again gather at Seattle Central starting at 5 PM and also is planned to include a march on the East Precinct.

2010's October 22nd events followed the killing of JT Williams by an SPD officer that summer and marked the start of a busy few years for anti-police protests around Capitol Hill

2010’s October 22nd events followed the killing of JT Williams by an SPD officer that summer and marked the start of a busy few years for anti-police protests around Capitol Hill

In a statement sent to CHS by the group’s vice president, the Black Student Union organizers are asking participants to congregate “in front of SPD East Precinct to assert our rejection of the police force here and nationwide” —

Some are under the impression that Seattle is some sort of liberal Utopia where police brutality does not exist, despite the fact that the Seattle Police Department was under the investigation of the United States Department of Justice within the last three years for excessive force and concerns of discriminatory policing. The Department of Justice Findings Letter stated
“This perception is rooted in a number of factors, including negative street encounters, recent well-publicized videos of force being used against people of color, incidents of overt discrimination, and concerns that the pattern of excessive force disproportionately affects minorities.”

“We are using this march to call attention to the mass amounts of police brutality that happen in our country every day,” Black Student Union vice president Issa George said in a statement emailed to media.

The full BSU statement is below.

Declaration to Seattle Police Department

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16 Comments
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Me
Me
9 years ago

You know a set of protesters are a smart bunch when they can’t even write a half decent manifesto with correct numbering.

bb
bb
9 years ago

Will the march be punctuated by a symbolic looting of a convenience store?

Capitol Hill-er
Capitol Hill-er
9 years ago

I smell a hidden agenda in that hidden #3. Probably monorail funding.

MFS
MFS
9 years ago

How tedious. The police aren’t going anywhere. How about this kids strive to end the perceived division between People of Color and the police and join the force? Change it from the inside.

Patrick
Patrick
9 years ago
Reply to  MFS

Wow, that’s way to practical a solution..try again with something bold and combative lol

Tim
Tim
9 years ago

Marching, yelling, and blocking traffic does not accomplish anything. Those are protest tactics of the past. Mobilize and organize online, register to vote, vote.

yep
yep
9 years ago
Reply to  Tim

yeah vote ad infinitum and hope things change.

been working great so far.

Phil Mocek
9 years ago
Reply to  Tim
Mike
Mike
9 years ago

All the protesters I saw walking by looked like they didn’t care about the cause and were just out having fun blocking traffic. Lots of smiling, laughing and chatting hardly any passion or anger coming across.

Jinushaun
Jinushaun
9 years ago

Person of color who grew up in the ghetto here. Never harassed by cops.

Cops 2.0
Cops 2.0
9 years ago
Reply to  Jinushaun

Appreciate your comment, there are certainly a-holes in the police force(or any occupation) but being calm and polite makes most encounters go by much faster.

Jinushaun
Jinushaun
9 years ago

People in Seattle have idea what crooked racist cops look like. Seattle has an incredibly positive relationship with their cops. Especially compared to the East Coast.

While I think most of these protests are bullshit, I think their prevalence in Seattle probably explain why Seattle cops are so much better and more responsive than other cops.

Steve
Steve
9 years ago

Youth have the right to express their frustration like anyone else, whether or not you agree, or whether or not you feel like they’re “mature” enough to really care about the cause, is irrelevant. The fact that they’re finding a peaceful way to do so should be commended. It’s their friends and family who are falling victim to violence and discriminatory policing. Perhaps some relish in the opportunity to “block traffic,” and maybe for them, this is their first time participating in this type of activism; there’s a bit of zealousness and excitement that comes with one’s first time. I applaud them for taking an interest in their community, organizing together, and attempting to make a point.

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[…] In August, a small protest marched through the streets of Capitol Hill and onto Broadway in the wake of the killing of the black teenager by a white officer in Missouri. A larger contingent assembled outside the East Precinct at 12th and Pine in October in a rainy protest against police violence. […]