Seattle mayor praises police after May Day violence
May 2, 2012, 11:33 AM | Updated: 1:22 pm
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn praised the police department
for a job well done and for quickly restoring order
downtown Tuesday during a May Day protest that turned
violent.
While it’s clear buildings and cars took the brunt of
destruction, McGinn said their priority was keeping the
public and their officers safe.
“We responded within minutes with appropriate force to
stop the violence and vandalism. There was property
damage, and we don’t like that there was property damage,
but our highest priority is the safety of the peaceful
protesters and the safety of the officers that we’re
sending in there keeping it safe.”
Some onlookers wanted to know why officers were merely
seen standing by while protesters donned in all-black used
wooden poles to bash in windows at Niketown, American
Apparel, and other businesses.
“If you’re going to send in officers one, or
two, or a handful at a time, into a group of 50 to 70
people wielding (these) weapons, that would be an officer
rescue situation at that time. And we’re not going to do
it that way,” responded the mayor in a Wednesday news
conference.
Police Chief John Diaz refuted the idea that police were
ordered to hold back.
“That’s absolutely not the case. In fact, I would say it
was the exact opposite. If you can make an arrest safety,
we were going to do so.”
Diaz said they made eight arrests on Tuesday, but he
expects many more in the coming days. The department has
put together a task force headed by Assistant Chief Pugel
to review news and surveillance footage collected to
identify suspects.
“I’m convinced there will be many people that will be
spending some quality time in prison based on what they
did yesterday. There’s a lot of video out there,” Diaz
said.
Police also displayed some of the weapons that were
confiscated.
Items taken range from rocks to hammers, chains to flag
poles. Officers also confiscated helmets, gas masks, and a
large wooden, homemade barricade.
Warning: Video contains some graphic language.
