SEATTLE, WA — Several members of the Seattle City Council spoke out against police actions Monday, following the use of various "crowd control weapons" on large groups of demonstrators Saturday.
A near-universal ban on such devices would have gone into effect over the weekend, but for a last-minute legal challenge from the U.S. Department of Justice. A federal judge granted a temporary restraining order late Friday night, allowing the Seattle Police Department to continue using the weapons only under certain conditions, pending input from Seattle's three police accountability branches.
By the following afternoon, police engaged demonstrators with flash-bangs, blast balls, foam-tipped projectiles and pepper spray, declaring a riot and unlawful assembly in the blocks surrounding the East Precinct.
"I am very concerned about the reports we heard over the weekend, I am very concerned about the court's ruling," Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda said. "I think it is really unfortunate, at best, that Trump's DOJ ultimately had the same goal that Mayor Durkan had, to be allowed to continue to use gas during the time of a global deadly pandemic."
Councilmembers Strauss, Sawant, Herbold and Morales also voiced their concerns.
"We have a choice in how we respond and we continue to choose the most aggressive response possible," Strauss said. "If our reform efforts over the last decade have been successful, then why does our response look like every other city's in the nation?"
Councilmember Morales said the "blatantly indiscriminate" use of the devices on large crowds both undermines community trust and conflicts with existing rules.
"In the video footage I've seen over the weekend, it was pretty clear that reporters are being targeted, legal observers are being targeted, blast balls are being thrown overhead into crowds, instead of rolled the way they are directed to do, nurses being sprayed directly in the face and at close proximity," Morales said. "We've heard reports of police dropping flash-bangs and concussion grenades onto unsuspecting protesters from building roofs, and that police are shooting protesters with rubber bullets. This council has been pretty clear in our interest in seeing the end of these kinds of tools and weapons being used against our community."
SPD arrests 47 after declaring 'riot' on Saturday
Saturday's demonstration, organized in solidarity with Portland, began at Seattle Central College Saturday afternoon, and thousands of protesters peacefully marched through the streets toward the Central District with no visible police presence.
Tensions rose as the march neared the Children and Family Justice Center, where fires were set at a nearby construction site and some businesses were vandalized. The main group marched on, returning to Capitol Hill, where the scene around the East Precinct quickly became chaotic.
Police reported damage to the precinct and soon declared the gathering a riot, deploying most weapons in their crowd control arsenal, except for CS gas, which the chief said earlier in the day would not be used.
Groups of officers in riot gear and armored vehicles pushed hundreds of demonstrators back, tossing blast balls, flash-bangs and other devices down Pine Street, and some protesters fled into Cal Anderson Park.
Several demonstrators reported injuries from police devices, and videos shared on social media showed a nurse and a legal observer directly hit with pepper spray in different incidents.
Police reported at least 47 arrests Saturday, with alleged offenses ranging from failure to disperse or obstruction to assault and arson. The police department posted photos online, which they said showed injuries to officers resulting from devices thrown from the crowd.
On Monday, the King County Prosecutor's Office said a majority of the arrests were not referred for felony prosecution. According to a spokesman, 12 assault arrests that were referred to the office were accompanied by "very limited information" that did not appear to meet filing standards, but investigations remain ongoing.
"Each case is being reviewed individually, and will be reviewed when the totality of evidence if received from police. As we have shared previously with the public, the media and law enforcement, we want to make sure we have all possible evidence — including dash cams, body cams, or other evidence — before we make a filing decision."
Legal observers say they were targeted by police
The Seattle chapter of the National Lawyers Guild accused the police department of using "haphazard and arbitrary force," targeting its members and violating a court order that limits the use of munitions against peaceful protesters.
Under the extended order, in effect until late September, officers can only use the weapons to take "necessary, reasonable, proportional, and targeted action to protect against a specific imminent threat of physical harm to themselves or identifiable to others or to respond to specific acts of violence or destruction of property."
The lawyers guild said one of its members was pepper-sprayed, while others encountered flash-bangs, and were grabbed, shoved or purposefully hit. Legal observers deployed to protests wear vests and hats clearly identifying them as present in an official capacity.
From a news release published Sunday:
The rights of legal observers are codified in Seattle law, which specifically permits the observation and recording of police officers; prohibits officers from punishing or retaliating against observers; and requires officers to minimize harm to observers when deploying crowd control munitions.Court orders have been issued in other cities, including Portland, OR., prohibiting use of force or retaliation against legal observers. Consistent with the ordinance and the orders, the Seattle NLG had sought and received assurances from SPD that its legal observers would not be targeted at protests, per an email from the SPD's Legal Affairs Department on July 8, 2020. Seattle NLG's legal observers relied upon those dishonored promises to their detriment.
Seattle NLG calls upon Chief Best to investigate SPD's use of force against legal observers and to impose disciplinary sanctions against the officers involved immediately.
ACLU files motion for contempt, alleging Seattle Police violated court order
Late Monday afternoon, the ACLU of Washington, Korematsu Center and the Perkins Coie law firm filed a motion asking a federal judge to sanction the Seattle Police Department, saying Saturday's use of force violated the court's previous order.
"The violence with which SPD met protestors on Saturday was disproportionate, unconstitutional, and, we believe, in violation of Judge Jones' preliminary injunction," said Molly Tack-Hooper, an ACLU attorney. "SPD's contempt for those who are seeking to hold them accountable for police brutality is clear from the evidence and it's unacceptable."
Monday's filing asks the court to enforce the preliminary injunction and bar police from engaging in further indiscriminate use of force.
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