‘Out of control and really quickly’: 2 SPD officers injured during Wednesday protest

Thousands gathered around the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle Wednesday evening for a rally demanding an end to ICE immigration raids ordered by the Trump administration.

The protest turned to vandalism once night came, as people tagged the federal building with “Abolish ICE” while others started a dumpster fire in the middle of an intersection. Eight protesters were arrested in total, while two officers with the Seattle Police Department (SPD) suffered injuries in the clash.

“It was amazing to me how when that group from Cal Anderson hit that intersection, everything changed in a split second, and it went from peaceful to just out of control,” KIRO reporter James Lynch, who was reporting on scene Wednesday night, said on “The Gee and Ursula Show.” “They immediately took over the intersection. Hundreds of people flowed into what was a peaceful, chanting rally. Then, shortly after that, a lot of people started leaving before it got dark. They came, they did, they left. And then there was that group that was left down there, and as night fell, it just got out of control. And it did. It happened really quickly.”

Lynch reiterated that most of the protesters were peaceful, just wanting to get their message out and exercise their First Amendment rights.

“But the few people that are left, and they’re pretty easy to spot. All in black. They’ve already got their gas masks on, they’ve got helmets on,” Lynch said. “I know from experience, as night falls, everything gets worse. It just happens so quickly.”

Once a dumpster caught fire in the middle of an intersection near the federal building, SPD was summoned in to quell the rising vandalism.

“I think they gave them a lot of latitude to express their First Amendment rights,” Lynch said. “But when it started to get violent, when they started to burn dumpsters, when they started throwing things, that’s when police moved in. And, as I said on the air last night, they moved in with great force. I thought they did a really good job of clearing the street.”

Another rally at Cal Anderson Park has been planned for Saturday, June 14, at 12 p.m. A second, smaller protest is also expected to be held at the University of Washington (UW) during commencement Saturday. That protest will begin at Red Square on campus.

“You never can tell what might happen at the federal building,” Lynch said. “I had one of these people, as I was in my car getting ready to leave, walk up to me. My window was down and he says, ‘Cal Anderson, Saturday at noon, you should be there.'”

No federal government interference, local leaders say

Local leaders of Washington said they expect police to handle protests with professionalism and without “interference from the federal government.”

Governor Bob Ferguson, King County Executive Shannon Braddock, Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, Pierce County Executive Ryan Mello, and Tacoma Mayor Victoria Woodards put out a joint statement Wednesday afternoon condemning President Donald Trump for sending the National Guard to California despite objections from its governor.

“Last time they were on Seattle streets, as far as I can remember, was in 1999 during WTO,” former King County Sheriff John Urquhart said on “The Gee and Ursula Show.” “Obviously, they use them in disaster responses. But, when you put them on city streets and expect them to do riot control in lieu of the local police departments, I think you’re asking for trouble, and you don’t have to look any farther than Kent State. It was 55 years ago, but those were national guardsmen expected to control the protests, and they shot 13 people, they fired 61 times, and they killed four people.”

Urquhart urged that the best way to handle events like Wednesday evening, and to limit looting and vandalism, is with local police departments.

Ferguson signed a bill into law on April 21 that restricts out-of-state military forces from entering Washington.

The law went into effect immediately due to an emergency clause.

Listen to the full conversation here.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.