Seattle Public Schools asks police to cease staging on school property
Jun 9, 2020, 9:09 AM | Updated: 1:20 pm
The Seattle World School. (Facebook)
(Facebook)
The Seattle Public School District spoke out Monday, after police officers and SWAT teams were spotted staging in the parking lot of the Seattle World School.
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“I do not condone the use of Seattle Public Schools property for staging militarized police against peaceful protestors,” said Seattle School Board Director Zachary DeWolf. “… When schools in our neighborhoods are filled with militarized police activity as a show of force against people exercising their first amendment rights, our school buildings no longer feel safe to many of our students.”
Seattle Public Schools (SPS) also responded on Twitter, saying that it was “concerning” to see, and that it “did not allow, nor condone, school property being used to stage any militarized police or actual military.”
“We did not give permission and will continue to figure out how this happened,” the district’s post continued.
SPS said later on in the day Monday that it “has been assured that this will happen again.”
(3/3) @SeattleSupt has contacted SPD and informed them that they may not use our parking lots or school buildings to stage SWAT and the National Guard, and has been assured that this will not happen again.
— Seattle Public Schools (@SeaPubSchools) June 9, 2020
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Buses carrying National Guard members were also spotted at Bailey Gatzert Elementary, roughly a mile south of where protesters were gathered, as well as Volunteer Park an hour-and-a-half prior to that.
This came after police left the East Precinct in Capitol Hill on Monday night, allowing protesters to move freely through streets surrounding the building. Police Chief Carmen Best had said earlier in the day that her officers would take a different approach on that block with a reduced footprint.
With the East Precinct abandoned — and despite scanner chatter warning of possible violence — protesters remained peaceful, with speakers delivering speeches on the steps of the building periodically throughout the night.
