Protesters continue to clash with law enforcement in Seattle days after the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone was dismantled.
Police said they arrested 10 people between Thursday night and Friday morning for property destruction, assault, harassment, and failure to disperse. The Seattle Police Department also reported bottles, rocks, and fireworks being thrown at officers. All those who were arrested were booked into the King County Jail.
Local law enforcement officials began clearing out the area early Wednesday after Mayor Jenny Durkan issued an executive order mandating that people vacate due to violence and public safety issues. Since then, more than 60 arrests have been made, according to KING-TV, a local NBC affiliate.
One of the arrests on Thursday was of a prominent protester from the CHOP zone who led police in a high-speed chase. Police say the man was wanted for a felony.
After the suspect crashed his car, he was seen climbing out of the sunroof and standing on top of his car.
“It was crazy. It was really shocking,” Sabrina Provost, who captured the incident on video while driving behind the chase in her mother’s car, told KOMO News. “The next thing you know, he jumped off of the car, and he did this dance like that — ran around the two cops that were there and just booked it down the freeway. He was so fast. I kid you not.”
The King County Prosecutor’s Office said Friday that no criminal charges have been filed against nonviolent protesters.
“The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office has not charged non-violent protesters, and we have no plans to do so,” the office wrote in a statement. “Our position hasn’t changed since the first protests in response to the murder of George Floyd.”
This is the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office statement on not filing charges against non-violent protesters. Our position has not changed. pic.twitter.com/n9ZDBeVuz7
— King Co Prosecutor (@KCProsecutor) July 3, 2020
Durkan had recommended that the city not file charges for misdemeanor arrests made during protests.
Police had abandoned the six-block CHOP zone, which included the department’s East Precinct, on June 8 after people protesting the death of George Floyd took control of the area and declared it an autonomous zone. It was initially dubbed the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone before being renamed.
The protest was one of many around the nation calling for an end to racial injustice and police brutality, as well as to defund the police.
