George Floyd protests in Seattle
The city of Seattle experienced protests over the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and 2021. Beginning on May 29, 2020, demonstrators took to the streets throughout the city for marches and sit-ins, often of a peaceful nature but which also devolved into riots. Participants expressed opposition to systemic racism, police brutality and violence against people of color.
By June 8, there had been eleven straight days with major protests in Seattle. The Capitol Hill neighborhood experienced a week-long series of clashes between demonstrators and police near the East Precinct that culminated in the formation of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area, after police abandoned the precinct on June 8. The month of June brought further protests including a Black Lives Matter general strike and silent protest march with 60,000 people on June 12 and several actions throughout the city for Juneteenth. The CHOP zone was reclaimed by police on July 1 after two fatal shootings. It was followed by a fatal vehicle collision with protesters on Interstate 5 over the July 4 holiday.
Major protests reemerged in opposition to the deployment of federal law enforcement in the city by the Trump administration. Additional actions occurred on July 19, July 22, and again on July 25, when several businesses were vandalized and five construction trailers were set on fire at a youth jail.
Events
was murdered on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bystander video of Floyd's arrest went viral on May 26, and it showed Floyd repeatedly saying "I can't breathe" as a white police officer pressed a knee into his neck. The officer continued to kneel on Floyd's neck minutes after he appeared to go unconscious. Protests against police brutality began in Minneapolis on May 26, and protests started in other U.S. cities on May 27.Weekend of May 29–31
May 29
On May 29, demonstrators gathered at 7 pm near Hing Hay Park in Seattle's Chinatown–International District to protest the murder of George Floyd. According to a later report by the City of Seattle's Office of Inspector General, there were over 150 protestors at the park, and they marched downtown chanting slogans like "Black Lives Matter" and "George Floyd". Protestors clashed with Seattle Police Department officers, especially when police formed lines dividing the march from other streets. When SPD formed a line blocking the march itself at 8 pm, an argument grew that resulted in a broken window nearby, with police firing pepper spray and flash bangs at protestors.After the protest dispersed, smaller groups damaged buildings and cars that evening, with some throwing rocks and fireworks at the King County Children and Family Justice Center. 100 protestors marched to SPD's East Precinct building in Capitol Hill, and SPD tried to redirect protestors back to the CID. A separate group of mostly white men had left the Hing Hay Park protest and methodically destroyed storefronts and security cameras across one mile of the CID, not encountering police for 45 minutes until they had broken a bank window. This resulted in broken windows on storefronts near Fifth Avenue South and South Jackson Street. Damaged businesses included a Bank of America branch, a dim sum restaurant, and an insurance office.
That weekend, Seattle Public Utilities, city partners, and volunteers worked in the CID to remove graffiti, clean broken glass, and put up plywood boards over the storefronts of 130 businesses who requested it. On June 5, over 100 artists volunteered to paint murals on the plywood using donated supplies. Over 100 businesses signed up to have free murals painted, and subjects included Black Lives Matter messaging; images of Asian people, Asian Americans and Black people; cultural symbols; and food and nature.
May 30 protests
Two protests were planned for Saturday in Downtown Seattle by advocates of police reform, and Nathan Hale High School hosted a third. Justice for George Floyd hosted a noon protest outside SPD headquarters. Not This Time!, founded by the brother of a man previously killed by SPD, hosted speakers at 3 pm in Westlake Park before a planned march to the King County District Court. The afternoon protests were largely peaceful, and thousands joined. However, clashes between protesters and police led to acts of looting and arson downtown, including of the Nordstrom flagship store. Protestors also marched onto Interstate 5 and blocked it in both directions.Initially, over one thousand protestors listened to speakers in the rain outside SPD Headquarters, divided from the building by a line of police officers. Protestors left in small groups for the Westlake protest. SPD officers reported a few people throwing bottles and rocks at them. By 2 pm, SPD cordoned off the nearby northern entrances to Westlake Park, forcing protestors to enter around the block to align their flow with street traffic. As some protestors got stuck outside, they chanted "Let us through" against the police cordon. Other chants throughout the day included "We do this for our children: we do this for our children's children", "I can't breathe!", "George Floyd" and "Black Lives Matter".
When the police line pushed into the crowd to arrest a man who had previously clashed with them, they surprised and angered the protestors, and one woman grabbed a police baton as she pushed back. An officer pepper-sprayed her face, and also hit an 8-year-old and his father. Video of protestors treating the child went viral and resulted in over 13,000 complaints of police brutality to Seattle's Office of Police Accountability. The incident was reported as under review by the OPA on June 2, and in September the office decided the officer did not violate policy because he could not see the child. In June Seattle police arrested Evan Hreha, a hot dog stand operator who recorded the video of the child, on suspicion of unlawfully discharging a laser. He was later released without charge.
Standoffs intensified when the crowd had grown to around 5,000 people. SPD leadership thought the crowd was too large for their capacity, and decided to keep officers in place and not engage with protestors. Many officers later said that they wanted to voice solidarity with protestors over their moral outrage at George Floyd's murder, but felt they could not show any support that would violate SPD's protest neutrality policy. At 2:30 the police opened one cordon to allow protestors to pass, but another individual clash led to wider deployment of blast balls and pepper spray against protestors throwing water bottles. The explosions dispersed protestors at the intersection and scared protestors in the park, some of whom started running. Protestors returned to the cordon, chanting "hands up, don't shoot" with their hands in the air and no physical engagement with officers. Some protestors de-escalated through the crowd as others verbally confronted officers, but officers did not reply until they ordered the crowd to disperse around 3 pm. The dispersal order was not issued loudly enough to be heard by the crowd. SPD then deployed tear gas, blast balls, and pepper spray against protestors, affecting large numbers of people.
Riot declaration
The intersection crowd broke into many small groups heading towards 6th Ave, where police vehicles were parked. Around 4 pm, a group vandalized the cars. Individuals stole three rifles from one, and shot once into a car. A security guard for the Q13 Fox news crew drew his pistol on the shooter and seized his weapon. The others were returned or retrieved later. Two men who stole the rifles were later sentenced. After the cars were vandalized, some lit six SPD cars on fire, and others shattered dozens of retail storefronts, looting from the stores. One man brought molotov cocktails and lit at least two SPD cars on fire this way. He was later sentenced for possession of destructive devices.At the same time, hundreds of protestors peacefully marched onto I-5 and blocked southbound traffic. 1,200 protestors gathered at SPD headquarters and threw bottles, rocks and paintballs at SPD officers. Mayor Jenny Durkan announced a 5 pm curfew with a weapons ban at 4:46 pm, although there were almost no transit methods for protestors to leave downtown by this time. While conceding that the local protests were largely peaceful, she stated that the curfew was in response to the instances of violence and was "intended to preserve the health and safety of our residents by keeping our streets safe and accessible for essential workers and first responders and preventing the further spread of COVID-19." She also requested state National Guard assistance, with 200 unarmed members providing backup for the SPD. The Not This Time! rally ended peacefully and led a march of hundreds or thousands to the King County Courthouse after the curfew, with SPD managing the march without conflict. The protests ended by nighttime, with SPD, Bellevue SWAT, and the Washington State Patrol responding to individual reports of looting, vandalism and arson. Volunteers cleaned up after the downtown protests that night and the next morning.
While Seattle police were attempting to detain looters, an officer restrained a white suspect, placing a knee on his neck for 13 seconds while bystanders urged the officer to stop. This continued, documented on video, until a second officer intervened to push the first officer's knee to the suspect's back. George Floyd himself had died after being restrained with a knee on his neck during an arrest. According to The Huffington Post, further video footage showed that the same Seattle officer had just used his knee on the neck of another white looting suspect. The OPA found that the officer used disproportionate force and had inappropriately sworn at and threatened protestors. A Black woman was also hit in the eye by a rubber bullet fired by a member of the Washington State Patrol: she claimed she had been hit seconds after holding up her sign listing victims of police violence. She received surgery for permanent damage to her eye, and settled a lawsuit with the state of Washington for $825,000.