The standoffs seen last week including this one at 11th and Pine on the 24th have quieted — for now (Image: Matt Mitgang)
Though a run of five nights with “crowd control” explosions and fires set in the streets of Capitol Hill ended over the weekend, smaller anti-police demonstrations in the name of Seattle’s Black Lives Matter movement have continued here including a brief confrontation late Monday night.
Seattle Police reported no arrests in the demonstration response though video from the scene appeared to show one person being detained. Jail records show nobody booked for the allegations typically seen following protest arrests like obstruction or failure to disperse. And there were no reports of explosions echoing across the Hill.
The reduced scale of the police and protester battles near the East Precinct have come amid smaller crowds after rage and frustration over injustice in the Breonna Taylor police killing swelled the ranks of demonstrators last week. The smaller groups continue to organize and gather in Cal Anderson nightly and are increasingly focused on anti-police actions. But there are also possible changes in policing strategy and management of the situation.
Sunday, interim SPD Chief Adrian Diaz held a press conference with local television media in which he reportedly “took a stand” against the ongoing demonstrations and called for the end of violence and property damage in the protests.
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“Recent events are not exercising first amendment freedoms,” Diaz said according to KING 5. “They are lawlessness for an apparent singular goal for destruction.”
Costs to the department are mounting. And Diaz and SPD radio updates indicate that the task forces assigned to the protests are limiting the department’s ability to quickly respond to other issues during demonstrations.
Meanwhile, SPD’s recent messaging about the ongoing protests has also emphasized the department’s First Amendment responsibilities. “A demonstration has left Occidental Park. There is a large group of officers in the area,” its Twitter account reported during a Pioneer Square-area demonstration Sunday. “We will work to facilitate and support first amendment free speech during the course of this event.”
Whether due to the smaller crowds or a new approach, some of the most criticized SPD behavior during the protests including engaging in verbal confrontations with demonstrators and egging on physical confrontations either didn’t occur Monday night or weren’t given a chance to.
Around 11 PM Monday, SPD’s Twitter account reported the intersection of 12th and Pine in front of the East Precinct was blocked by the protest. 15 minutes later, the space was reported cleared with a major confrontation and without a blast ball being thrown.
But even on a night without a major conflict, one video circulated overnight shows that tensions remain dangerously high. In the clip, regular protest livestreamer Future Crystals shows a man identified as a SPD Swat officer sitting in his police vehicle with his service weapon drawn. SPD officials are aware of the video, a department spokesperson told CHS Tuesday morning but could offer no more details about the tense situation, any repercussions for the officer, and department policy regarding the situation.
https://twitter.com/FUTURECRYSTALS/status/1310790277603287046
Meanwhile, at City Hall, the summer’s protests have carried into some policy and legislation. The Seattle City Council pushed back on Mayor Jenny Durkan’s vetoes of its 2020 SPD cuts and new community spending. Later Tuesday, the battle to win further changes to the city’s policing will open a new front as Durkan’s 2021 city budget proposal is unveiled.
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