Hundreds of protesters, aided by a sympathetic City
Council member, stormedSeattle‘s City
Hall Tuesday night to demand the mayor’s resignation, just days
after seizing a six-block downtown zone that includes a shuttered
police precinct.
Demonstrators remained peaceful, without reports of violence or
injuries, but are pushing Mayor Jenny Durkan to step down if she
refuses to defund the city’s police department.
The protesters continued to camp out in a self-declared
“Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone†(CHAZ)– a region spanning six
blocks and encompassing the precinct– which has effectively been
abandoned by law enforcement after the Seattle Police Department
closed the East Precinct on Monday.
For more than two weeks following the death of George
Floyd — an unarmed black man who died in police custody after
a former Minneapolis police
officer kneeled on his neck for over eight minutes — hundreds of
demonstrators all over the country took to the streets to condemn
police brutality.
In some cities, like Seattle, pockets of violence erupted as a
result of clashes with law enforcement.
On Sunday night, a protester in Capitol Hill was shot
and wounded and in another incident, a man
drove his car through a throng of protesters and opened
fire when a demonstrator approached the car window, police
said.
After nearly two weeks of sparring — during which protesters
threw glass bottles, rocks, and other items at police, and officers
deployed pepper spray and tear gas to break up crowds — the
police department made efforts to roll back aggressive policing
tactics in an effort to quell the violence.
Since the police cleared out two nights ago, the area has
remained relatively peaceful, despite the ongoing
demonstrations.
Police said they will be responding to the area only if there is
a 911 call for an emergency.
On Friday, Durkan
banned the use of tear gas by police, but protesters say it’s
far from enough in a climate fraught with tension and distrust for
law enforcement.
Seattle Councilwoman Kshama Sawant met protesters inside City
Hall on Tuesday night– even though the building is usually closed
at night– Komo
News reported.
In response to Tuesday night’s protests, Durkan’s
office said in a statement that she remains committed to making
“actual steps on policing†and other measures of
reform.
“As the person who originally investigated the Seattle Police
Department for the unconstitutional use of force, Mayor Durkan
believes that SPD can lead the nation on continued reforms and
accountability, but knows this week has eroded trust at a time when
trust is most crucial,†the statement said.
The post Seattle
Protesters Storm City Hall, Demand Mayor Resign After Driving
Police Out of Area, Declaring Autonomous Zone appeared first on
Harbingers Daily.
