Black Lives Matter march blocks downtown Seattle traffic
Jul 21, 2016, 4:54 PM | Updated: 11:13 pm
Black Lives Matter marchers move through downtown Seattle. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
A group of Black Lives Matter protesters marched through downtown Seattle streets Thursday evening.
The crowd chanted: “No justice, no peace. No racist police.”
“Let’s not get this twisted,” said one of the marchers on a loudspeaker as the crowd blocked the intersection of 8th Avenue and Virginia Street. “I do not hate the police, and neither should you. There are bad apples in everything … Do not stereotype anybody.”
“Look around,” he said. “See what we are looking at, see all these different cultures of people? That’s America!”
UPDATE: Demonstrators look like they are gathering back at Westlake Park on 4th Ave and Pine St. pic.twitter.com/9rwEHTPDx4
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Poor visual but looks as if demonstrators are blocking the intersection of 3rd Ave and Pine St. pic.twitter.com/ILUp0MZku2
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstration headed WB on Pine St from 9th Ave. pic.twitter.com/9kC8Vo7jir
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstration is heading WB on E Pike St from Broadway. pic.twitter.com/34AGSligLA
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators headed EB on Pine S from Broadway. pic.twitter.com/dGAUCx1M5o
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators are currently at 5th Ave and Westlake Ave. pic.twitter.com/kDk0A74Ame
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators are headed SB on Westlake Ave from 8th Ave. pic.twitter.com/5lR6TvIoQW
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators are blocking the intersection of 8th Ave and Virginia St. pic.twitter.com/k8xYzfWAyh
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators are headed NB on 6th Ave from Pine St. pic.twitter.com/raNevUcDv0
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators are blocking the intersection of 6th Ave and Pike St. pic.twitter.com/Ttu15EQMdv
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
UPDATE: Demonstrators are currently on 6th Ave and University St. pic.twitter.com/uG9Isz3jl5
— seattledot (@seattledot) July 22, 2016
Protesters took turns on the loudspeaker, expressing positive and negative experiences with police and addressing the national issue of unarmed black men being shot and killed by police officers.
“I have friends that are police officers … I have been in jail,” another man said, while also speaking to the line of police officers managing the crowd. “I have been pulled over because of the color of my skin. But I know that some of you are good people. I know that you, yourselves, have to deal with this broken system.”
“I don’t hate any police officer … it took me years to look at a police officer and not be sacred,” he continued. “It takes years to heal the wounds. We don’t hate you, we love you. Love is bigger.”
Despite the expressions of understanding, the main topic of discussion was the issue of racism in America and how that is expressed through police across the nation — from biased policing, to the killing of unarmed black men.
Among the crowd is KIRO 7’s Gary Horcher who said there were a “few hundred” protesters in the street.
King County Metro announced that bus services would experience delays in downtown Seattle. The Washington State Department of Transportation reported that police blocked the entrance onto southbound I-5 from University Way.
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