6 charged with trespassing after protest at Seattle City Council meeting

Six people were charged with trespassing Friday with the charges coming after a protest at a Seattle City Council meeting last month.

Dozens of protesters filled the Feb. 22 meeting, calling on the city to do more to help asylum seekers with housing.

Past protest coverage: Seattle City Attorney considers charges against Council demonstrators

Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson said protesters were asked to lower their voices and were given warnings before the police were called to remove them.

“We had a disturbance in chambers and the only way to go on with the business of the people was to finally have people removed by (Seattle Police Department),” Nelson said.

Council member Cathy Moore said the physical safety of the council was threatened by the demonstrators.

“It is more than loud. It is a physical threat to the safety of each of us on this council and it is a threat to the operation of our city and our institution,” Moore said during the meeting, according to KIRO 7. “I want the record to be clear, I felt threatened.”

Three men and three women were arrested outside council chambers.

On Friday the six people, Aidan Carroll, Bennett Haselton, Lauren Kay, Iris Bordman, Jonathan Duyker and Rosario Lopez Hernandez, were all charged with trespassing. Carroll was also charged with obstruction.

Members of the city council respond

According to The Seattle Times, council member Bob Kettle said, in a statement on Friday, he supports Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison’s decision to file the charges.

“Seattle has endured a permissive public safety environment for too long, including in council chambers,” Kettle said in the statement.

Council member Tammy Morales said she was against the charges.

The Seattle Times reported, Morales called the arrests “callous.” She added they “could cause long-term harm, upending the protesters’ lives. Seattle has a long history of public dissent; charging protesters for dissenting in the people’s chamber is undemocratic.”

King County protest: More charges recommended for protesters who shut down I-5 in Seattle

Those charged have an arraignment scheduled for April 4.

Sending a clear message that the Seattle City Council won’t allow this tactic anymore, six people have been charged by the City Attorney with Criminal Trespass in the First Degree.

Aidan Carroll
Bennett Haselton
Lauren Kay
Iris Bordman
Jonathan Duyker
Rosario Lopez Hernandez https://t.co/7AbVUo2bmh

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) March 23, 2024

Contributing: James Lynch and Kate Stone, KIRO Newsradio; Frank Sumrall, MyNorthwest

Julia Dallas is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read her stories here. Follow Julia on X, formerly known as Twitter, here and email her here.