Threats made to Seattle Police on May Day
May 1, 2014, 11:49 AM | Updated: May 5, 2014, 9:23 pm
The last couple years May Day protests have erupted into violence.
Police are already receiving threats. See below:
And here are some of the threats we're seeing in conjunction with #SeaMayDay pic.twitter.com/bwEiiMV9vF
— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) May 1, 2014
Police say vandals targeted a car dealership, bank, restaurant, and U.S. Post Office.
Officers found “Kill SPD” spray-painted on a bank at 13th Ave and E. Madison Street, as well as an Anarchist symbol on a car dealership and “smash this” on a restaurant window at 12th Avenue and Madison.
The graffiti on the Post Office at Broadway and E. Denny Way reads “Racist Rapist Cops Die.”
“It’s unfortunate to see that type of stuff to go up around Seattle, but it’s doesn’t really change our deployment much today,” Seattle Police Captain Chris Fowler told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson.
Fowler said the police department has a great working relationship with the organizers of the Annual May Day March for Workers and Immigrant Right, moving from Judkins Park to Westlake.
The un-permitted evening events are a different story, but Fowler said officers are prepared.
“Historically, they started off peacefully, although the rhetoric is amped up, but unfortunately, the last couple of years, it degenerated into more direct and violent action.”
Fowler told Dori they’re aware that the vast majority of people in Seattle support what police are doing for May Day.
“We certainly understand and support the culture that we have in Seattle, but we’re not going to tolerate people coming downtown or up to Capitol Hill or anywhere to commit violent crimes,” he said.
