Demonstrators with around 30 vehicles slowly move south along I-5

Demonstrators were slowly rolling along Interstate 5 (I-5) south Thursday afternoon.

KIRO Newsradio spoke to a man involved in the demonstration.

“It’s about protesting against the Ethiopian dictator government that killed the Amhara people, the genocide,” he said.

The man said the demonstration was headed to Olympia to “raise our voice that Abiy Ahmed killed Ethiopians.”

Washington State Patrol (WSP) Trooper Rick Johnson posted on X at 11:28 a.m. Thursday all vehicles were moving. He said troopers are monitoring the road to ensure lanes are not blocked.

“The protestors at NO time blocked any lane of travel,” Johnson stated on X. “Non-associated vehicles stopped briefly in the lanes believing this was some type of collision. Everything is clear at this time.”

More traffic: Successful construction season ends on I-90

KIRO Newsradio reporter James Lynch was at the scene. He said the convoy looked to be about 30 cars as of 12:15 p.m. on Thursday. However, they did not appear to be blocking the entire freeway, as he was able to get around the convoy to the front.

“They did seem quite friendly,” Lynch reported. “They weren’t wearing any masks. They were flying the flag, and they’re about to pass me at this moment.”

He said the demonstrators were also in a box truck in the convoy and had a message board on all sides of the truck that appeared to say “Genocide in Ethiopia.”

Lynch also reported the demonstrators were waving, were in the right lane so cars could get around and were slowly rolling along the freeway.

Contributing: James Lynch, KIRO Newsradio

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