Videos on social media appear to show Washington State Patrol (WSP) officers pull protesters from vehicles and arresting them for blocking traffic on Interstate 5 in Seattle.
A video posted to Twitter on Friday afternoon shows officers reaching into a car and forcibly pulling out the driver as the car’s occupants and other protesters raise their objections.
Trooper Rick Johnson, WSP’s public information officer, tweeted that “troopers have arrested 9 drivers for blocking the freeway and are in the process of impounding 9 cars.” All lanes were reopened to traffic a short time later, according to KING-TV.
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One protester wearing a shirt that says “Black Lives Matter” and “Defund the SPD [Seattle Police Department]” is seen to engage in a heated argument with the officers in both videos, at one point saying “I have the right to make a protest.”
“No, you don’t,” replies one of the officers before being read a passage from the Seattle Municipal Code.
“This isn’t Seattle,” the officer claims as the pair continue to argue. “You’ll learn. This is the freeway, different rules, different regulations.”
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Another person identifying themselves as a journalist asks the officer why people are being arrested, with the officer refusing to answer.
A second video shows another person apparently being arrested and handcuffed as protesters continue to argue with officers over whether they have a right to protest. The officers indicate the protesters are being arrested for “obstruction.”
In July, two protesters were struck by a fast-moving vehicle while demonstrating on I-5 in an area nearby, which was thought to have been blocked to traffic for the demonstration. Summer Taylor, 24, was killed, while the other victim was left seriously injured.
Only hours before the incident, WSP announced that they would no longer allow protests to take place on the interstate, while threatening to arrest any defiant pedestrians.
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
