Tag Archives: protests

Protests planned as fundamentalist church bringing #DontMessWithOurKids rally to Cal Anderson next week

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A sign at Seattle’s May Day rally in Cal Anderson Park

May 2025 will be a busy month for First Amendment activities in Capitol Hill’s Cal Anderson Park. Counterprotests are being planned as one of the state’s largest “charismatic” churches is bringing a “#DontMessWithOurKids” rally to the popular neighborhood park next week.

“May 24th at Cal Anderson Park, we’re standing for truth, justice, and life,” the promotion from On Fire Ministries reads. “We are raising our voices against the evils of sex trafficking and the tragedy of abortion — and we are defending the sanctity of the nuclear family.” Continue reading →

May Day 2025 in Seattle crosses Capitol Hill with rally, chants, and marching — UPDATE

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Seattle May Day crowds crossing Broadway Thursday afternoon (Image: CHS)

With reporting by Matt Dowell

A sunny Seattle May Day 2025 saw thousands rallying for worker and immigration rights fill Cal Anderson Park and march from Capitol Hill to downtown Thursday afternoon.

Crowds grew from the noontime rally with hundreds of workers from multiple unions and labor groups joining hundreds and hundreds more from community and activist groups. Plenty also showed up to protest the second Trump administration and the White House’s ongoing worker cuts in key science, health, safety, and transportation departments and attacks on spending on federal programs.

A very rough survey of the signage yielded these stats: 25% in support of democracy and against fascism, 16% tired of Elon Musk, 15% wanting an end to Trump and Project 2025, 11% supporting immigrants and abolishment of I.C.E. Among the remaining causes represented: workers, Ukraine’s war effort, Trans rights, empathy, and an end to chaos. Specifically, “Stop the poo flinging chaos monkeys”.

Still, a common thread emerged.

“We’re out here for solidarity between labor and the migrant community,” said Corinne Cosentino, business manager at the OPEIU Local 8 union. OPEIU represents employees working in offices, health and home care, housing, social services, the insurance industry, legal services and the public sector. “This is an outlet for people’s need to stand up.”

Kong Barry of the UFCW 3000, which represents nearly 30,000 workers in grocery stores like Safeway, Fred Meyer, QFC, and Albertsons, said that as billionaires take over, workers need to band together to “get some of the pie”. Livable wages, healthcare, pensions – these are all things her union fights for. An immigrant herself, she said that many are simply looking for a better life in America. “What is so wrong with that?”

Earlier Thursday, students joined faculty in a walk-out at nearby Seattle Central to protest budget cuts. Continue reading →

2025’s anti-Trump protests are smaller, low-conflict, frequent, and have great signs — Another marched on Broadway Saturday

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The latest in a year of smaller, more local, low-conflict protests focused on messaging against the second Trump administration filled the Seattle Central plaza and Broadway Saturday.

The Capitol Hill rally and march was part of a national day of “Hands Off” protests across the country and up and down the Puget Sound. It was also part of multiple demonstrations in the city itself as groups like Seattle Indivisible have kept a steady drum beat of protests in motion with frequent, nearly weekly gatherings centered in neighborhoods and cities across the region instead of attempting larger rallies in Seattle.

Keeping track of the smaller events has been sometimes a challenge for those wanting to get involved and sort out if a planned protest will have a healthy turnout. Continue reading →

CHS Pics | ‘Hands Off’ Seattle protest gathers below the Space Needle

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Thousands gathered at the Seattle Center in the shadow of the Space Needle this weekend as protesters joined in Saturday’s nationwide “Hands Off” demonstrations in cities large and small across the country.

The Seattle protest was as much rally as demonstration and there were no reports of issues with police or arrests. It continues a string of demonstrations in the city including federal workers bringing the issues around the Trump administration’s attempts to gut resources like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to Montlake Blvd. Continue reading →

The FBI is reportedly looking for duo who set a Tesla on fire on Capitol Hill

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You can buy anti-Elon bumper stickers like this from Jeff Bezos

The FBI has issued an alert to owners and a joint task force involving the bureau’s counterterrorism division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is investigating acts of vandalism against Tesla vehicles including an arson fire that damaged a 2022 Model S parked near the busy restaurants and bars of Capitol Hill’s 15th Ave E earlier this month.

“These incidents have involved arson, gunfire, and vandalism, including graffiti expressing grievances against those the perpetrators perceive to be racists, fascists, or political opponents,” the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center alert reads. “These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night.” Continue reading →

‘Save our Science’ rallies — with some of the best protest signs so far — bring fight against Trump cuts to Montlake Blvd E

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Montlake Blvd E above 520 isn’t where you might typically see a protest in Seattle but a “Save our Science” demonstration there Wednesday morning caught the city’s attention.

Workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are raising alarms over looming job cuts they say threaten critical scientific research, fisheries sustainability, and the livelihoods of coastal communities. Speaking anonymously out of fear for their jobs, employees at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center and Alaska Fisheries Science Center are calling attention to the far-reaching consequences of federal funding and staffing reductions.

“Many of us work at NOAA, right here, and a lot of our co-workers are being threatened with their jobs,” one worker said. These employees emphasize their role as public servants, working not just in Washington, D.C., but in communities across the country.

A stock assessment scientist explained the importance of their work: “We set annual catch limits for fisheries on the West Coast and in Alaska to make sure that we can keep catching fish sustainably.” This focus on sustainability is critical to maintaining healthy fish populations and supporting the commercial fishing industry.

Nick Tolimieri, president of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 8A, represents workers at NOAA’s Northwest and Alaska Fisheries Science Centers. He warns that funding and staffing cuts jeopardize their ability to deliver essential research required by laws like the Magnuson-Stevens Act and the Endangered Species Act. Continue reading →

Seattle Presidents’ Day protest planned for Cal Anderson Park

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A planned Presidents’ Day demonstration in Cal Anderson Park will be joined by more protests in Seattle Monday including a planned rally outside the downtown Federal Building protesting the Trump administration’s wave of firings of government employees.

Organizers are calling on demonstrators to gather in the Capitol Hill park through the day Monday beginning around noon as part of the nationwide “50501” — 50 protests in 50 states on one day — effort.

It is unclear how many will attend the Seattle demonstrations. Protests in the city and on Capitol Hill have so far drawn smaller crowds than the strong backlash the grew in response to the start of the first Trump administration nine years ago. With a central location and proximity to downtown plus strong public transit, Cal Anderson has remained a center of activity. Continue reading →

Seattle setting new rules for how police use crowd control weapons like pepper spray, blast balls, and tear gas

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(Image: Matt Mitgang with permission to CHS)

The Seattle City Council is set to approve new rules for how the Seattle Police Department can use crowd control weapons.

CHS reported here on the legislation needed to replace SPD’s crowd control policy as part of changes required to fully end federal oversight of the department. The department’s “interim” policies on the use of things like blast balls and pepper spray have been in place since a federal judge blocked the city’s attempts to ban the weapons in the wake of the 2020 protests.

The new rules set to be approved by the council Tuesday will leave the discretion on deploying crowd control weapons like pepper spray and blast balls to SPD incident commanders while requiring outside agencies like the Washington State Patrol to follow SPD’s command in crowd control situations. The use of more serious weapons like tear gas would require an official state of emergency to be declared by the mayor. Continue reading →

Seattle anti-Trump protests including ‘PUNCH A NAZI’ illuminated display continue at Cal Anderson Park

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January 24th: Light projection artist @lightguerrilla illuminated display at Cal Anderson Park. (Image: @streetphotojournalism)

Demonstrators marching off the Hill Wednesday afternoon from a video of the protest posted to the CHS Facebook Group

“Yup, F Donald Trump,” says a Capitol Hill resident in their video posted to the CHS Facebook Group showing a hundred or so chanting protesters streaming by Wednesday afternoon on E Denny Way.

The afternoon demonstration starting in Cal Anderson Park had been promoted online as a warm-up for a larger rally planned on March 15th in a post encouraging demonstrators to march “for our reproductive rights,” healthcare, trans rights, and “to bring awareness to the housing crisis.” The marchers headed through the city to Seattle Center and kept mostly to the sidewalks to avoid conflicts with traffic and police. Continue reading →

With smaller crowds but lots of resistance, People’s March Seattle crosses Capitol Hill

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By Domenic Strazzabosco

The People’s March Seattle gathered Saturday morning in Capitol Hill’s frost-covered Cal Anderson Park, 48 hours before Donald Trump was set to be sworn into his second non-consecutive term in office. An estimated 3,500 people marched down Pine and toward the Seattle Center.

A much smaller event than the demonstrations eight years ago from the Seattle Women’s March organizers, those who showed up Saturday as part of marches across the country still wanted their voices to be heard and their signs seen.

“I have goosebumps just seeing all the like-minded people coming together,” said Mariah Doty, who attended the rally with a friend. “It absolutely feels powerful.”

Tom Schleichert, when asked about what he hoped his young daughters would gain from attending the rally, said, “To know that they’re not alone.” Seeing so many people come together to speak about women deserving power and equality, he described as empowering and special. One of his daughter’s signs read “No Mean Laws” and the other, “We Vote For Girls.” Continue reading →