Seattle Violent Demonstrators throw explosives at Police, Take Over City Hall

Today update from the Seattle Times:

9 June: One group marching from Capitol Hill toward downtown was led by Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant Seattle.

10 June: The protesters, stocked with tarps, blankets and tents, have started to camp out in their self-declared Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone — the area near the Police Department’s East Precinct at 11th Avenue and Pine Street. The hope, many protesters have said, is to turn the building into a community center according to the Seattle Times report.

Forbes confirmed the report that protesters in Seattle took over City Hall for about an hour Tuesday night, and demanded the resignation of the city’s mayor, Jenny Durkan. Earlier a Black Lives Matter group sued the Seattle Police Department, alleging that the city has violated the constitutional rights of demonstrators by using harsh crowd control tactic

Earlier in the demonstrations, Rioters threw rocks/bottles/and explosives at officers. Several officers were injured due to improvised explosives.

Felony charges have been charge against several for violence against the police, shop owners and shops.

Written byPublic Affairso

On May 30th, 2020 large demonstrations in the downtown core turned violent and evolved into a riot. A Seattle Police patrol vehicle parked near 5th Avenue and Pine Street was damaged and set on fire. One suspect was observed repeatedly hitting the patrol vehicle with a baseball bat.

Detectives were able to identify the 22-year-old female as the suspect. On Friday, June 5th, detectives located the woman in the Lower Queen Anne neighborhood and took her into custody without incident. She was later booked into the King County Jail for investigation of malicious mischief.

This remains an active and on-going investigation.

Assault Charges Filed Against Shooting Suspect at 11th and East Pine

Written byPublic Affairson June 10, 2020 3:51 pm

On Wednesday, June 10th, a single count of Assault in the First Degree was filed against a 31-year-old man who allegedly fired a handgun, striking and injuring a 27-year-old man on Capitol Hill. 

According to court documents, on Sunday, June 7th, at approximately 8:20 PM, the 31-year-old man drove to the area of 11th Avenue and East Pine Street, where large demonstrations were taking place near the East Precinct. The 27-year-old male attempted to stop the suspect’s vehicle from driving through the crowd by grabbing the steering wheel. The suspect fired a single shot, striking the victim in the shoulder. The suspect then fled and ran toward police where he was taken into custody. The gun was recovered.

The suspect was later interviewed by detectives and booked into the King County Jail.

The King County Prosecutor’s Office has filed felony burglary charges against several individuals stemming from incidents that occurred during the looting that occurred during demonstrations in downtown Seattle Saturday, May 30th, 2020.

A 37-year-old man allegedly stole electronics from a store on 2nd Avenue. A 46-year-old man is charged with stealing alcohol and prescription drugs from the same location.

A 34-year-old man is charged with stealing clothing from a store at 5th Avenue and Pine Street.

A 25-year-old man has been charged with felony harassment and unlawful possession of a short-barreled shotgun. The incident occurred on Sunday, May 31st. According to documents filed in King County Superior Court, the suspect “began to yell at officers trying to draw a crowd”. The suspect was armed with a modified shotgun.

Charges of Attempted Robbery have been filed against a 41-year-old man who, according to court documents, tried to wrestle camera equipment away from a 65-year-old woman at 10th Avenue and East Pike Street on Sunday, May 31st. 

Two men, ages 26 and 22, have been charged with Drive-By Shooting, Unlawful Possession of a Firearm and Attempting to Elude a Police Vehicle for allegedly shooting at a business owner who was in downtown Seattle late on Saturday, May 30th. The victim had heard about the looting downtown and wanted to check on his family-owned business, according to reports.

The victim was brought out of the crowd to waiting medics who transported him to Harborview Medical Center for treatment.

Police Reform:

Due to conflicting and inaccurate reports in the chaos, a policy change for Seattle police came into effect 10 June:

By order of the Chief,

Pursuant to Executive Order 2020-07, effective immediately all Seattle Police Department officers who are assigned to work demonstrations where they will have contact with the public are ordered to have body-worn video recording during demonstrations.

Police in Seattle have been under scrutiny and this report below was released in January 2020 for Police activity in 2019:

The report highlights include: 

• Officers were dispatched 850,910 times while reporting using force in 1,264 times, representing 0.15 percent of all dispatches. 
• The most serious use of force level (Type III) which is reasonably expected to cause serious injury or death occurred 20 times, which is less than 0.0023 percent of all dispatches.
• The vast majority of force incidents (77 percent) involved the lowest level (Type I) which cause transitory pain, the complaint of transitory pain.
• 76 percent of calls were priority 1 (531) and priority 2 (426) levels.
  • Priority 1 dispatches require an immediate response and include incidents involving immediate danger to the life of a citizen.
  • Priority 2 dispatches are incidents which quickly could develop into a more serious issue such as a threat of violence, injury, or damage.
• Fewer than 2 percent of all arrests resulted in Type II or Type III force.
• OPA has incorporated many of the recommendations that were made by the Monitoring Team in the 2016 OPA Review.