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SPD breaks up protest groups, makes arrests after Capitol Hill property damage

(Image: SPD)

Multiple people were taken into custody on Capitol Hill Saturday night after police moved on a protest crowd following incidents of property damage, according to the Seattle Police report on the incidents and social media updates from live streamers and journalists at the march.

Demonstrators accompanied by a protective convoy of vehicles were first reported marching on Broadway near Harrison around 8:30 PM where SPD said a bank and a Metro bus had been vandalized with graffiti. Graffiti was also reported on Seattle Central buildings and the shuttered Ada’s Discovery Cafe, which went out of business in July when AT&T pulled the plug on the retail and coffee experiment. With police presence increasing along the march, the groups moved through the area where SPD reports officers moved in and a dispersal order was given after individuals again busted windows at the frequently targeted E Olive Way Starbucks and reportedly threw at least one firework inside.  Reports from the scene showed police using crowd control force including pepper spray during the arrests.

According to reports from the scene, the SPD dispersal order continued with police pursuing groups back to Cal Anderson where the nightly march began and where more arrests were made.

SPD says 16 were taken into custody for “property destruction, assault, failure to disperse, and rendering criminal assistance.” The King County Jail registry shows one person booked for rendering criminal assistance, one for criminal mischief, one for failure to disperse, and eight for obstruction during the overnight period. It is not clear how many if any were booked into jail for assault.

No major injuries were reported and Seattle Fire records do not show any dispatches to the area of the protest and arrests.

Saturday night’s bursts of conflict follows a relatively quiet stretch of nights for the ongoing anti-police protesting that has continued in Seattle amid wider pushes for Black Lives Matter goals. CHS reported here on the changing nature of the SPD and protester conflicts on the Hill as the ranks of demonstrators have thinned and police have taken a more forceful approach to quickly breaking down protests near the East Precinct.

There have also been increasing reports of troubles with livestreamers being targeted by police. Friday night, popular livestreamer Joey Wieser could be seen on his own feed being taken into custody by SPD after he ventured near the roll-up fence of one of the East Precinct’s vehicle and bicycle entrances. Wieser said he was immediately released but not before being detained and handcuffed.

 

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30 Comments
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Jay
Jay
3 years ago

We have a roving bands of criminals trying to destroy our neighborhood. These people are far worse than any military force or the police. They are violent and destructive. They stand for everything against racial justice and are despicable. for us residents in Capitol Hill, we want peace and racial justice. These people are exactly the opposite. Let them go to their neighborhoods and destroy them and get out of Capitol Hill.

James
James
3 years ago
Reply to  Jay

You have cause and effect backwards. Cops being violent make the people be violent.

Cops gotta go. Starbucks too for that matter. We don’t want it here.

Crow
Crow
3 years ago
Reply to  James

James, you’ve converted me to being pro-cop. Well played!

Chaz Neighbor
Chaz Neighbor
3 years ago
Reply to  James

Research suggests otherwise.

Both protestors and the police both share responsibility in respect to escalation.

I recommend this book (it’s short).

“Situational Breakdowns: Understanding Protest Violence and other Surprising Outcomes” by Anne Nassauer

https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190922061.001.0001/oso-9780190922061

Glenn
Glenn
3 years ago
Reply to  James

So, we don’t want Starbucks, a Seattle company and one of the most progressive corporations in the country, in Seattle? Oh, that makes so much sense.

joe
joe
3 years ago
Reply to  James

What did that starbucks do to you, James? Did they get your order wrong at some point? You gotta live and let live, that’s what living in a city is all about.

CD Rez
CD Rez
3 years ago
Reply to  James

Ugh.. your lunacy is ridiculous. Neither cops nor Starbucks is going anywhere.

CD Neighbor
CD Neighbor
3 years ago
Reply to  Jay

At least James et. al. are starting to be honest…. their smashing, fire setting rampages don’t have anything to do with BLM, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor or racial inequality and never did- it’s just a prolonged May Day that’s used the causes of other people (and sometimes their bodies) as cover.

Carrie
Carrie
3 years ago

Ok, so we know the names of some of these rioters:
Joey Wieser, rich, white Microsoft employee who doesn’t live on Capitol Hill
Kelly Thomas Jackson, white, college aged kid from Edmonds
Jacob Greenburg, nineteen-year-old wealthy white son of a state legislator, from Kirkland

These are the dudes infiltrating our neighborhood every weekend, keeping us working class adults up every night with their white boy anarchist role play, lecturing us about what it means to be poor or working class. These are the dudes targeting mom and pop ramen noodle shops, a church that feeds the homeless every weekend, and a beloved neighborhood institution, the Hugo House. Of course, these rich, white dudes can go back to their rich, white neighborhoods without a thought as to who’s left to clean up their messes. They are white, male privilege personified.

Jason
Jason
3 years ago
Reply to  Carrie

Anyone catch the livestream where CJ Halliburton was physically threatened for filming. Yeah, antifa doesn’t mean “anti-fascist”, it means “anti-First Amendment”.

But all the Democrat politicians this city simps for don’t believe it exists. “Just an idea” says Biden. Hmmm.

sheryl
sheryl
3 years ago
Reply to  Jason

what he meant it is is not a centralized organization with a leadership structure

FOH
FOH
3 years ago
Reply to  Carrie

Ok, so what are you going to do about it? That’s right. Nothing. When the MyNorthwest comment section opens up you can all get back to your normal outlet for seething.

louise
louise
3 years ago

These temper tantrums of hysterical, unhinged children is really tiresome. The people walking around “live-streaming” with PRESS written on their sweatshirts are also tiresome, and phony. I guess everyone is a citizen journalist now, how cool (not).

The protesters/rioters seem to think they are so smart and provocative but if you listen to them screaming and arguing with the Police, anyone they consider a protagonist or each other they sound like the dumbest people in the world.

I guess if this gets the shakedown of Jenny Durkan and the City Council for hundreds of millions of dollars each year it’s all worth it, but it’s certainly miserable for those of us who live here.

James
James
3 years ago
Reply to  louise

Then move. You’re with us or against us.

GoHomeRioter
GoHomeRioter
3 years ago
Reply to  James

Building your coalition one person at a time, right? Winning the hearts and minds….

Brian N.
Brian N.
3 years ago
Reply to  James

James, only a fool talks in absolutes. See: George W. Bush.

Nora
Nora
3 years ago
Reply to  James

You move. Those of us who have lived here our whole lives don’t want your form of extremism.

Adam
Adam
3 years ago

What can we do? Our government seems fine with letting this go on with little to no consequences. I’m not even sure what these rioters actually want besides seeking confrontations with cops to put on Twitter and destroying businesses they take issue with.

It’s like the movie Groundhog Day…but every day is May Day.

EJ
EJ
3 years ago
Reply to  Adam

Agree Adam. We can’t go out and counter-protest because then we would be part of the problem. We have to rely on our elected officials to show some leadership and backbone. Two things our government lacks.

CH Resident
CH Resident
3 years ago

I am also pretty freaking tired of the roving vandals, but god, the pick-a-side drumbeating and equivocating is so exhausting. A roving pack of emboldened trustafarians who smash windows and spray paint anarchy symbols on bank windows and yell at cops are worse than an out of control military force? Really? Good grief.

It’s entirely possible to be completely dead-set against the systemic abuses of power that the SPD are perpetrating on people, and the unauthorized deployment of federal goons to intimidate people from standing up against it by the Trump administration, and the complete inaction of the mayor, and the grandstanding of our city councilwoman Kshama Sawant, and the misguided property damage that keeps happening around the hill, it’s possible to be against all of it, to be sick of all of it, in fact I’m pretty certain that’s how most residents here feel, and if you’re not sick of playing this stupid game where you use the very real experience of the people who live here to feel better about your own world views and try to get your way, I hope you peter out very soon.

Carrie
Carrie
3 years ago
Reply to  CH Resident

Thank you. I made a comment above, but just want to clarify that I’m a democrat who would never in a million years vote for a Republican and I also 100% support BLM, have marched with them, and do not consider the white boy rioters to be part of the movement, but terrible people who have co-opted and taken advantage of it. I agree with everything you’ve said.

As a resident of Capitol Hill, it just really frustrates me that my democratic officials are afraid to acknowledge the reality on the ground for fear of sounding like they are siding with the cops. to me, their failure to address the situation is almost as bad as Republican politicians refusing to address and quash violence by the fringe elements in their own party.

RWK
RWK
3 years ago

It’s about time that Pete Holmes (City Attorney) got much tougher with these far-left criminals. At a minimum, the repeat offenders should be put on “no bail” status once arrested and charged, and they should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

I have the feeling that most of those arrested are quickly released and never charged. Is there any data on this?

Sheryl
Sheryl
3 years ago
Reply to  RWK

more stories on this the better, seems to be the key problem – arrests but quick release. some actual justice would 1. keep violent people and people who destroy property off the streets 2. prevent the cops from imposing their own justice by arresting people who did not do anything, you could look at metrics like ‘how many people arrested vs charged.’ right now those numbers meaningless because people not being charged. and yes, as a citizen of this city I find a lack of justice in people not being charged for crimes of property and kids who hit policemen on the head with baseball bats getting out on 5k bail. Astounding, we need stronger voices from the council denouncing roving destruction.

Susan knox
Susan knox
3 years ago

It’s good to have another viewpoint and on-the-ground reporting. The public hears a lot of unreal commentary from the old media. I’m a US citizen living in Portugal, watching my old stomping grounds with great interest

ItsARiot
ItsARiot
3 years ago

“…breaks up rioters…”

FTFY

warren trout
warren trout
3 years ago

Catch and release. Same criminals. How about pressing charges and sending the violent people away.

L Flick
L Flick
3 years ago

Here is a little piece that puts the spotlight on anarchist groups at work in many cities during BLM demonstrations.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/30/opinion/anarchists-protests-black-lives-matter.html

CD Neighbor
CD Neighbor
3 years ago
Reply to  L Flick

I’m going to have to read the whole thing, but right from the title I feel like she’s already got it wrong….. the insurrectional anarchists have never been protesting racial injustice, they’ve just been practicing insurrectional anarchy using the protests as cover…

CD Neighbor
CD Neighbor
3 years ago
Reply to  L Flick

I must say – after having read the article, I’m pleasantly surprised (after the headline – which doesn’t exactly reflect the content and in fact concludes “In other words, it’s not really about George Floyd or Black lives, but insurrection for insurrection’s sake.”) at how spot on it is….. Some of it was even quite surprising. Now if we could just get the rest of the country to read it and understand what exactly is happening out here…. thanks for bringing this to my attention.. I’d missed reading it when it was first published.

csy
csy
3 years ago
Reply to  L Flick

Another NY Times article mentions an anarchist pamphlet titled “I Want To Kill Cops Until I’m Dead”. Google and read it, especially the “No Future- No Program” section, and know where they’re coming from…

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/us/black-lives-matter-protests-tactics.html