Huge crowd protests in Seattle as criticism of police mounts; curfew canceled
SEATTLE — A sea of protesters packed streets in Seattle on Wednesday in a sixth straight day of demonstrations over the killing of George Floyd, amid increasing criticism of the police department’s repeated use of tear gas and flash-bangs to disperse mostly peaceful crowds.
By mid-afternoon thousands had descended upon City Hall, where police holding batons formed lines behind metal barricades. The demonstrators carried “Black Lives Matter” signs, called for cutting the department’s budget and shifting the money to social programs, chanted for officers to remove their riot gear, and knelt or sat together as they surrounded the building.
"Earlier today @CarmenBest and I met with community leaders who asked us to end the curfew. Chief Best believes we can balance public safety and ensure peaceful protests can continue without a curfew.
"For those peacefully demonstrating tonight, please know you can continue to demonstrate. We want you to continue making your voice heard."
Thousands of protesters remained in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood well after the abolished 9 p.m. curfew Wednesday. Demonstrators carried “Black Lives Matter” signs, called for cutting the police department’s budget and shifting the money to social programs, and chanted for officers to remove their riot gear.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Seattle police put down their shields at the request of protesters. They then asked the protesters to put down their umbrellas.
Washington Lt. Gov. Cyrus Habib tweeted that he was pleased Seattle had listened and reversed course.
“Preemptive curfews were only making things worse. Other cities should do likewise,” he posted.
Earlier in the night, WSDOT said Interstate 5 was closed as a precaution between I-90 and SR 520. The freeway has been opening and closing for the last few days during the protests.
Seattle leaders sought to address some of the concerns raised by the protesters. Mayor Jenny Durkan met with protest leaders, including former mayoral candidate Nikita Oliver, in City Hall before speaking with demonstrators outside for a second straight day.
“What we and you are protesting today is not just the death that we saw in Minneapolis,” Durkan told the crowd during a contentious appearance. “It is that that murder resonates over generations of black experience in America.”
But the crowd booed the mayor after she said some changes — including a planned requirement that officers not cover up their badge numbers, a concern of many demonstrators — would not happen overnight.
Durkan said Wednesday evening that she was ending the city-wide nightly curfews of the previous days after she and Police Chief Carmen Best met with community members who asked for it to be abolished.
“Chief Best believes we can balance public safety and ensure peaceful protests can continue without a curfew,” she said.
Durkan and Best, who is black, addressed the Community Police Commission on Wednesday. Best also addressed city council members, acknowledging concerns while also insisting that officers had a right to defend themselves from assault, noting that a small number of protesters had thrown water bottles and rocks at officers.
City Attorney Pete Holmes announced that he would withdraw a recent motion filed in federal court that sought to lift much of the reform-oriented consent decree that the police department has operated under since a 2012 settlement with the Justice Department. He noted that citizens had filed some 12,000 complaints over the department’s handling of the protest, saying in a news release, “we are about to witness the most vigorous testing ever of our City’s accountability systems.”