Seattle revelers danced, partied, and beep beeped their car horns on Capitol Hill Saturday during an all-day, all-night party to celebrate victory for the Biden-Harris campaign on the street where the early protests and celebrations of the Capitol Hill occupied protest first formed.
Moments of the celebration Saturday echoed with energy like that felt during the rallies, art, and, speeches from the start of the summer’s protest zone.
Saturday night brought another reminder familiar from the CHOP days — gun violence is a deadly scourge in American cities.
One dead in shooting at 10th and Pike (Image: Matt Mitgang)
A 25-year-old 31-year-old Black man was gunned down and killed in a dispute near 10th and Pike during ongoing celebrations late in the night. There were reports police had a possible suspect detained but Sunday, the department said only that the incident “remains an active and on-going investigation.”
Earlier in the day, E Pine filled with jubilant crowds beginning Saturday morning with a party and dance area forming at the site of the giant Black Lives Matter street mural just south of Cal Anderson. The crowd, most masked, massed in the street, leaving one lane for a steady parade of honking cars carrying celebrants choosing a more socially distanced way to experience the gathering. The scene matched those playing out through the day in the core of cities across the country. In early evening, President-elect Joe Biden’s speech was on the screens of the Pike/Pine venues open during the ongoing pandemic. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris’s words drew whoops and cheers.
There were reports of a few scuffles and the dancing and partying gave way to serious moments as demonstrators and activists also joined the crowd. SPD said one person smashed out the window on a police cruiser. A large police presence stayed to the edges of the crowds as. the night progressed. There were also a few disputes between people insisting crowds not dance on the refurbished and protected street mural but those complaints mostly fell by the wayside as the dancing continued and a city blew off the steam of an ongoing pandemic and four long years.
With reporting and photography by Alex Garland and Renee Raketty
The people on Capitol Hill in #Seattle have spoken pic.twitter.com/iTFNCTCq08
— Alex Garland (@AGarlandPhoto) November 7, 2020
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The people who celebrated have completely trashed Capitol Hill. There’s so much garbage from this. The same rich liberals who celebrated and trashed the Hill are the same ones who whine about Everyday March and protesters. Do better Seattle.
James clearly doesn’t own a TV if he believes the only ones celebrating this election were rich liberals. But James sums up the problem with idealistic progressivism. You can march all you want, but unless you can also get people elected into office to make the changes you want to see, your marches are useless. The sad reality is that you may need to vote for the old man moderate to get elected President, while also working to get more progressives like AOC elected where those options are viable so that we have enough progressives in the House and Senate to pressure the moderate white guy President.
Progressives need to learn how to brand their positions, because controversial platforms like “defunding the police” instead of simply “police reform” are barely going to fly in liberal cities, let alone in battleground states. The reality is you need to work within the system that exists and persuade people to your side in order to create the system you want. Yelling about defunding the police while running through the streets smashing windows is simply not a winning argument.
You can’t say “be progressive” and then say “don’t have controversial stances!” Four months ago, defunding the police was very welcomed. It’s less and less so only because the rich white liberals will choose fascism over progressivism when push comes to shove. They like their comfort and they hate the poor.
Biden in the White House will solve everyone’s problems — that is, if the results hold.