Sources: Law enforcement planning to activate more than 600 officers for May Day

If social media is any indication, this May Day won’t be any more peaceful than in the past. But Washington law enforcement sources tell KIRO Radio’s Don O’Neill that police are doing more to prepare this year.

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May 1, aka May Day, is traditionally a day to rally on labor issues. But in Seattle it has become an annual event for anarchists to riot in the streets as well as the arrests that follow. KIRO 7 reported that the SPD expects less of a disruption because May Day falls on a weekend and many people won’t be working and can avoid downtown. Police said that, in recent weeks, officers have been getting equipment ready and undergoing riot training.

However, a source within the police department tells O’Neill, of KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show, that all 1,300 officers have to go through May Day riot training and that they are planning to activate more than 600 officers for the protest. The source told O’Neill that 80 officers are being given nine hours of training each day.

The source also said that they feel this is the biggest build up and the most training for a May Day in Seattle.

Additionally, a member of the Washington State Patrol reported this to O’Neill:

Just interesting to watch SPD try and figure out how to manage protests while pandering to the Seattle City Council and respecting the rights of all anarchists.

An anti-capitalist group says it is planning to gather at Westlake Park downtown because organizers believe they were too easily contained by police last year on Capitol Hill. Other online chatter includes the above youtube video of previous destruction that invites rioters to “bring it” this year.

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