Seattle’s police union has hit out at city officials after mass arrests took place in a park when counter-protesters gathered to demonstrate against a rally being held there.
The Seattle Police Officers Guild said it welcomed a mayoral review of the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department’s decision to allow the rally to be held in Cal Anderson Park on Saturday.
“What we are struggling to understand is, why was this park chosen and authorized, especially when this park is commonly known as the heart of ANTIFA land,” the police union said in a statement on Sunday. The park and surrounding areas of the Capitol Hill neighborhood were occupied by protesters as part of the nationwide unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd five years ago.
The police union and Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell have been contacted for comment via email.
The Context
Mayday USA, a conservative Christian group, brought its #DontMessWithOurKids rally to Seattle, the fourth of five stops on a national tour, on Saturday. Organizers of the event say the #DontMessWithOurKids movement “refuses to stand idly by while the children of our nation are indoctrinated by liberal, political, and sexual agenda that seeks to destroy their God-given identities.”
A counter-protest calling for people to “Protest Fascist ‘Family Values’”—was arranged in response, with organizers urging people to “send a message with a loud picket line, signs and banners: Bigotry is not welcome here!”
Violence broke out at the rally, leading the police department to make 23 arrests.
Harrell, a Democrat, said on Saturday that “anarchists” had infiltrated a group of counter-protesters opposing the rally and “inspired violence,” leading to arrests and causing the event to be shut down early. He also criticized the Mayday USA event, calling it a “far-right” rally being held in the park to “provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.”
What To Know
The decision to allow the rally to take place in the park “as naïve or deliberate as it was, put police officers in an untenable predicament,” the union said.
“Whether it’s our job or not, we were once again ordered to put ourselves into a political quagmire.”
The union said that the department lacks the staffing to handle any more “demonstrations that turn into mass arrests.”
More than 700 police officers have left Seattle in the past decade due to “the public safety political decisions by out elected leaders, activist pressure, and for their lack of action against ANTIFA criminals who continue to dictate public safety political terms,” the union said, adding that more than a quarter of the remaining officers are eligible to retire.
The remaining officers in the city “are tired. Our community is tired. This is Seattle’s public safety political reality.”
What People Are Saying
The Seattle Police Officers Guild said: “To be clear, WE DO NOT have the proper staffing to handle any more of these demonstrations that turn into mass arrests. Even more importantly, we as a police union understand that this city lacks the political will to allow police to use the necessary tools to hold back criminal mobs to protect life and property.”
Mayor Bruce Harrell said in his statement: “Anarchists infiltrated the counter-protesters group and inspired violence, prompting SPD to make arrests and ask organizers to shut down the event early, which they did.”
He added: “I am grateful for those who make their voices heard in support of our neighbors without resorting to violence. In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors, and commitment to justice and fairness.”
Ross Johnston, a preacher and an organizers of the Mayday USA event, wrote on X: “The audacity of the @MayorofSeattle to claim that we as Christians were ‘attacking’ is bigoted and the rhetoric of a God hating politician whose ‘power’ came up against a superior force.
“PS: all arrests were from the protester camp—it takes a bit of a brain to understand what that means maybe you have one? (Highly doubt it).”
Organizers of the counterprotest said: “Anti-queer, anti-trans ‘Mayday USA’ is bringing their reactionary preaching to Seattle with help from right-wing pastor Matt Shea and his Christian Fundamentalist ‘On Fire Ministries.’ Provocatively, they are rallying under the hashtag ‘#DONTMESSWITHOURKIDS’ at Cal Anderson Park on Capitol Hill in the heart of Seattle’ Queer community. Let’s send a message with a loud picket line, signs and banners: Bigotry is not welcome here!”
What Happens Next
Harrell said he was directing the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department to review “all of the circumstances” of the application for the Mayday USA event “to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued.”
He said the police department “will complete an after-action report of this event, including understanding preparation, crowd management tactics, and review of arrests and citations.”
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