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Under executive order from mayor, Seattle Police sweep in to retake East Precinct and clear Capitol Hill protest zone — UPDATE

(Image: Katrina Shelby Photography)

Converge Media was broadcasting live from the scene early Wednesday

24 days after clearing the building and evacuating the area following weeks of anti-police protests, the Seattle Police Department swept into the area around the East Precinct early Wednesday and cleared the protest zone that has formed in this core neighborhood of Capitol Hill under an executive order from Mayor Jenny Durkan.

The 30-minute operation created a wide perimeter around the 12th and Pine building with streets cleared of campers and protesters and police reported taking several into custody but meeting little resistance. Meanwhile, a surveillance helicopter circled the neighborhood for hours providing intelligence to the police force on the ground and on the roofs of nearby buildings.

The 10-day order declares “gathering in this area as an ‘unlawful assembly’ and requires immediate action from city agencies, including the Seattle Police Department.

UPDATE 4:20 PM: What’s next after Seattle Police clear the Capitol Hill protest zone: In an afternoon press conference Mayor Jenny Durkan and SPD Chief Carmen Best answered questions about what could come next as protesters have been swept away from the East Precinct. “We will be guided by each situation as it presents itself,” Durkan said about the possibility of protesters returning to 12th and Pine or turning their attention to another area of the city. There will not, they said, be another “situation like Capitol Hill.”

 

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UPDATE 9:00 AM: SPD reports more than 20 arrests:

As of 7:45 AM, officers have made 23 arrests in the #CHOP zone for failure to disperse, obstruction, resisting arrest, and assault. One of the arrestees, a 29-year-old man, was in possession of a large metal pipe and kitchen knife when he was taken into custody.

UPDATE 9:30 AM: SPD now reports 31 arrests for “failure to disperse, obstruction, assault, and unlawful weapon possession.”

There were no significant injuries reported. Around 6:30 AM, SPD said that a woman was reported going into labor on the east side of Cal Anderson Park.

UPDATE 11:21 AM: More arrests and a large police presence was reported at Broadway and Pine after a clash between officers and protesters. Nearby Seattle Central announced its campus was locked down during the ongoing police activity.

Police said officers “enforcing today’s order” were wearing “a higher-level of protective gear.”

“Police are utilizing this equipment because individuals associated w/the CHOP are known to be armed and dangerous/may be associated with shootings, homicides, robberies, assaults & other violent crimes,” the update read.

SPD was also investigating reports of vehicles circling the area with officers reporting individuals “with firearms/armor” inside. The vehicles also did not have visible license plates, SPD reported.

Durkan’s executive order was posted on Twitter at 5 AM but issued earlier in the night. It calls for the area around the park and the East Precinct to be cleared for 48 hours. A copy of the order can be found at the end of this post.

“The purpose of this Executive Order is to direct Departments to coordinate the City’s response to observed and reported life safety, public health, and property issues in and around the East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park,” the order reads.

GUN VIOLENCE AT CHOP

Tuesday, the city began to remove heavy cement barriers from streets around the protest area but agreed to leave protections in place for the main camp area outside the East Precinct. Care was being taken to preserve art installed in the area including the massive BLACK LIVES MATTER on E Pine.

A second area of camping inside Cal Anderson was also being cleared. Representatives from the Human Services Department were on hand to provide information and assistance but many campers being cleared were dragging their things through nearby streets on their way, some said, to new camp spots around the city. Garbage trucks were in the area and workers could be seen throwing many of the items and trash left behind into the vehicles.

“We want people to move out of the area. Continue your peaceful demonstration in a place where you are not affecting public safety,” Chief Carmen Best said Monday morning after an overnight shooting that left a 16-year-old dead and a 14-year-old critically injured.

UPDATE 8:15 AM: In an interview with CHS Wednesday morning, Chief Best told residents and nearby businesses to be prepared for “days” of recovery to reclaim the area and make the zone around the East Precinct and Cal Anderson Park safe again.

“It’s a fluid situation,” the chief said as she took a break from her tour of the scene.

“We’re taking it one day at a time. The level of crime, violence, and brutal lawless nature was unacceptable.”

As for lessons for her leadership of the police force about the decision to empty the East Precinct in the first place, Best said there would be a deeper examination ahead.

“There is a lot of speculation about what happened with that, once street was open it presented a problem.”

But she took issue with Seattle City Council member Lisa Herbold’s characterization of the FBI intelligence cited as a justification for the original lockdown of the precinct from an op-ed published this week by The Stranger:

The decision to barricade the East Precinct was attributed to what was described as a “credible threat” from the FBI to the East Precinct. My conversations with Chief Best have revealed that the FBI threat was not specific to the East Precinct; rather, it appears to have been a generalized assessment of threat to “police and government structures” in Portland, San Francisco, and Seattle.

“Lisa Herbold is entitled to her observation and opinion. I disagree. We saw what happened at the precinct. She was there, what, one night?”

UPDATE 11:35 AM: Chief Best was commended in a statement from Attorney General William P. Barr:

I commend Police Chief Carmen Best for her courage and leadership in restoring the rule of law in Seattle. For the past several weeks, the Capitol Hill area of Seattle was occupied by protesters who denied access to police and other law enforcement personnel. Unsurprisingly, the area became a haven for violent crime, including shootings that claimed the lives of two young people, assaults, and robberies. As Chief Best made clear throughout the process, 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. Chief Best has rightly committed to continue the substantive discussion while ending the violence, which threatens innocent people and undermines the very rule-of-law principles that the protesters profess to defend. Thanks to the Seattle Police Department, Capitol Hill parks, streets, and businesses are again accessible to the people of Seattle, who may travel throughout their city without fear of violence. The people of Seattle should be grateful to Chief Best and her Department for their professional and steadfast defense of the rule of law. The message of today’s action is simple but significant: the Constitution protects the right to speak and assemble freely, but it provides no right to commit violence or defy the law, and such conduct has no place in a free society governed by law.

Meanwhile, residents at the 12th and Pine Packard Building report receiving this notification about the clearance underway:

Crews could be seen rapidly disassembling plywood barriers as heavy equipment moved in to clear the large cement barriers as Chief Best and SPD brass observed under the watchful eye of SWAT officers stationed on rooftops above.

The latest deadly shooting continues a string of gun violence at the camp in a series that had been quiet since a shooting early last week that sent one person to the hospital. That shooting was part of a string that left one dead and at least three wounded. Early that Saturday, one man was killed and another person was critically wounded in a shooting at 10th and Pine. 19-year-old Renton High student Lorenzo Anderson died in an incident that became a flashpoint of controversy with police restricting their presence in the area following the emptying of the East Precinct headquarters and Seattle Fire’s limited abilities to respond without police presence. That Sunday night brought another shooting on the edge of Cal Anderson that sent a 17-year-old to the hospital.

The camp has been in place since June 8th when SPD, in a surprise move, pulled out of the East Precinct following heavy criticism over its use of crowd control tactics including tear gas and flash bombs to stop Black Lives Matter protests in the wake of the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.

With gun violence and deadly shootings creating major safety questions around the camp, the Capitol Hill protest zone continued to play a role in pushing for changes even as community groups and activists focus efforts away from the area of 12th and Pine. Sunday, hundreds marched to Mayor Durkan’s house to demand Black Lives Matter goals and a 50% cut to the Seattle Police Department’s budget.

A set of real estate companies, condo associations, and 12th Ave small businesses have filed a federal lawsuit to also increase pressure on the Durkan administration to bring the protest camp to an end.

UPDATE 11:59 AM: Lawyers for the complainants issued a statement on the morning’s sweeps calling the action “a first step” and calling on the city to address the “violation of our client’s constitutional rights” and “restore the neighborhood and our clients” after “property damage, loss of revenue, and other harm.”

 

Durkan and the city have been in talks with some at the camp to reduce the size of the occupied protest and start the process of moving police back into the emptied East Precinct. Monday morning was believed to be the planned start of the city clearing most of the streets in the area of barriers and blockades set up in recent weeks but that work didn’t go into full motion until Tuesday morning. Those at the camp had said they planned to remain until the city agrees to cut the police department budget in half and meet other local Black Lives Matter goals.

 

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6 Comments
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Anastasia
Anastasia
3 years ago

This doesn’t make us any safer. Police don’t prevent crime. They either cause it or show up after it happens.

stan
stan
3 years ago
Reply to  Anastasia

Removing the CHOP occupiers removes an element that has drawn criminal activity that’s resulted in: attempted rape, gun violence, and two black teens dead; all in the course of just under two weeks.

Police don’t prevent crime; true. But CHOP’s presence didn’t either; if anything, their continued presence attracted it. This action does make us safer.

Paul
Paul
3 years ago
Reply to  Anastasia

With 171,000 dispatches so far this year and community focused staff they actually do prevent crime as well as respond to it. And is anyone on this board going to get out of bed at 3:00 in the morning to help someone getting the crap beat out of them by their domestic partner? More evolution in policing yes, absolutely. But abolitionists are not living in the real world. Who is going to go to 171,000 calls in a city of 750,000?

Adam
Adam
3 years ago

Finally.

James in the CD
James in the CD
3 years ago

Fine Jenny Dip. We will be back on your lawn. Back on the West Precinct. East too. We will not stop. Meet our demands or deal with us.

gimmeabreak
gimmeabreak
3 years ago

OOOoooo so scary. Your little, limp noodle arms strike fear into the hearts of every fascist!