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The city of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
experienced protests over the
murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...
in 2020 and 2021. Beginning on May 29, 2020, demonstrators took to the streets throughout the city for marches and sit-ins, often of a peaceful nature but which also devolved into riots. Participants expressed opposition to
systemic racism Institutional racism, also known as systemic racism, is a form of institutional discrimination based on race or ethnic group and can include policies and practices that exist throughout a whole society or organization that result in and suppor ...
,
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...
and violence against people of color. By June 8, there had been eleven straight days with major protests in Seattle. The
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
neighborhood experienced a week-long series of clashes between demonstrators and police near the East Precinct that culminated in the formation of the
Capitol Hill Organized Protest The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, originally Free Capitol Hill, later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an occupation protest and self-declared autonomous zone in the Capit ...
(CHOP) area, after police abandoned the precinct on June 8. The month of June brought further protests including a
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
general strike and silent protest march with 60,000 people on June 12 and several actions throughout the city for
Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...
. The CHOP zone was reclaimed by police on July 1 after two fatal shootings. It was followed by a fatal vehicle collision with protesters on
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
over the July 4 holiday. Major protests reemerged in opposition to the deployment of federal law enforcement in the city by the
Trump administration Presidency of Donald Trump may refer to: * First presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration from 2017 to 2021 * Second presidency of Donald Trump, the United States presidential administration since 2025 See also * ...
. Additional actions occurred on July 19, July 22, and again on July 25, when several businesses were vandalized and five construction trailers were set on fire at a youth jail.


Events

On May 29, demonstrators gathered in the evening near
Hing Hay Park Hing Hay Park ( zh, t=慶喜公園) is a public park in the Chinatown–International District, Seattle, Chinatown–International District neighborhood of downtown Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The park is located o ...
in Seattle's Chinatown district to protest the murder of George Floyd. Protesters later marched downtown and clashed with police, with police firing teargas and arresting several protesters. In the evening, windows were broken on storefronts near Fifth Avenue South and South Jackson Street. Damaged businesses included a Bank of America branch, a dim sum restaurant, and an insurance office.


May 30 riots

A larger demonstration was organized and held on May 30 at Westlake Park, joined by thousands from a protest at police headquarters, and evolved into a standoff between protesters and police, leading to acts of looting and arson in Seattle, among them the
Nordstrom Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...
flagship store. Protesters also blocked
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
in both directions. Protesters removed two AR-15 rifles from an abandoned police cruiser. Q13 Fox News correspondent Brandi Kruse reported that a rioter was firing one of the weapons into vehicles. A security guard hired by the news crew drew his pistol on the protesters and seized the weapons. Seattle Police Department reported that two rifles were returned without having been fired; KIRO TV and other media reported that at least one of the rifles was fired during the riot while out of police control. A KIRO reporter reported hearing "explosions" during the afternoon of May 30. Sometime in the afternoon a child was maced by a police officer. The incident was reported as under review by the Seattle Office of Police Accountability on June 2, though as of July 18 the officer involved had not been disciplined or officially identified. A week later Seattle police arrested Evan Hreha, a hot dog stand operator who recorded a video of the child who had been sprayed, on suspicion of unlawfully discharging a laser. He was later released without charge. On this day, while Seattle police were attempting to detain looters, a white suspect was restrained with an officer's knee on his neck for 13 seconds while bystanders urged the officer to stop. This continued until a second officer intervened to push the first officer's knee to the suspect's back. This was documented on video. George Floyd himself had died after being restrained with a knee on his neck during an arrest. According to ''
The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
'', further video footage showed that the same Seattle officer had just used his knee on the neck of another white looting suspect. In response to the unrest, Seattle Mayor
Jenny Durkan Jenny Anne Durkan (born May 19, 1958) is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. Afte ...
declared a 5:00 pm curfew on May 30 and May 31. While conceding that the local protests were largely peaceful, she stated that the curfew was in response to the instances of violence and was "intended to preserve the health and safety of our residents by keeping our streets safe and accessible for essential workers and first responders and preventing the further spread of COVID-19." Protests continued on May 31. A cleanup effort was organized to support businesses in Downtown and the International District.


Capitol Hill clashes

On June 1, police and protesters clashed in
Cal Anderson Park Cal Anderson Park is a public park on Seattle’s Capitol Hill that includes Lincoln Reservoir and the Bobby Morris Playfield. Features The north end of the open park features ''Waterworks'', a large mountain-shaped water fountain feeding a shal ...
on Capitol Hill after hours of demonstrations and a march to the Seattle PD East Precinct. Protesters on Capitol Hill began using
umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protec ...
s to shield themselves from tear gas, adopting a tactic used during Hong Kong's
Umbrella Revolution A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after t ...
. A pink umbrella used by a protester was taken by police, causing more umbrellas to appear the following day and pink umbrellas specifically to become a symbol of the Seattle protests. Frontline footage of this event was captured by Omari Salisbury of
Converge Media Converge may refer to: * Converge (band), American hardcore punk band * Converge (Baptist denomination), American national evangelical Baptist body * Limit (mathematics) * Converge ICT, internet service provider in the Philippines *CONVERGE CFD ...
, which clearly shows the sequence of actions on both the police and protester sides that led to the escalation. On June 2, a protest led by activists Rashyla Levitt and David Lewis marched from Westlake Park to Seattle City Hall with the intention of forcing Durkan to exit the building and talk to the activists. After an hour and a half Durkan spoke to the protesters and agreed to meet with leaders of the movement the next day. This was the first time Durkan had spoken to protesters after five days of demonstrations. Many protesters were unfamiliar with Levitt and Lewis; Black Lives Matter released a statement that they had no affiliation with the pair. Suspicions over Levitt and Lewis were first reported by Seattle journalist
Erica C. Barnett Erica Christine Barnett (born September 15, 1977) is an American journalist and blogger who covers the city of Seattle. She is known locally within Seattle for her crowdsourced journalism in Seattle. Viking Press released her book ''Quitter: A ...
and quickly escalated to accusations of Lewis and Levitt being either police "
plants Plants are the eukaryotes that form the kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria to produce sugars f ...
" working against the movement, or simply naive novices who were "in over their head." Both Levitt and Lewis denied being police collaborators and no evidence proving their guilt has been provided. Levitt stated that she did not initially intend to be a leader and it happened organically; she had been receiving death threats since the rumors began. After the June 3 meeting with leaders of the protests that Levitt and Lewis initiated, Durkan ended the citywide curfew and announced the city's withdrawal from ending the consent decree on the SPD. On June 29 Levitt had a physical altercation with
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
reporter Dan Springer and was arrested on July 1 during the police clearance of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest. Community activist Andrè Taylor referred to Lewis and Levitt as "youngsters" and chastised Lewis when demonstrators refused to comply with his demand that they evacuate CHOP. On June 5, Mayor Durkan announced a 30-day ban on police use of
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...
, saying officers "do not need to be using tear gas at protests as a crowd management tool." In light of the 30 day ban on tear gas, on June 6 Seattle police used
pepper spray Pepper spray, oleoresin capsicum spray, OC spray, capsaicin spray, mace, or capsicum spray is a Tear gas, lachrymator (tear gas) product containing as its active ingredient the chemical compound capsaicin, which irritates the eyes with burning ...
and
blast ball A blast ball, also known as a tear gas ball, rubber ball grenade, sting ball grenade, or stinger grenade, is a ball-shaped, rubber coated, less-lethal grenade designed for law enforcement and riot control applications. A blast ball is similar to a ...
s to disperse protesters outside the East Precinct on
Capitol Hill Capitol Hill is a neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in both the Northeast, Washington, D.C., Northeast and Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast quadrants. It is bounded by 14th Street SE & NE, F S ...
. City Council President Lorena González criticized the police response, tweeting "This is NOT what de-escalation looks like!" Also on June 6, the Seattle Police Department posted photographs of a candle on Twitter which it described as an "improvised explosive" and an "incendiary device" that had been thrown at officers. On June 7, during a demonstration at the East Precinct on Capitol Hill, a man, later identified as Nikolas Fernandez, drove a black Honda Civic into the crowd. As the vehicle was in motion, protester Daniel Gregory reached in the driver's side window. Fernandez then shot Gregory in the arm, exited the vehicle and ran past the barricades to the police line. Fernandez, whose brother works at the East Precinct, shot Gregory with a
Glock 26 Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military and ...
that had extended magazines taped together
jungle style In regards to firearm magazines, jungle style, or jungle magazines, or coupled magazines, refers to detachable box magazines, and thereof, that are fixed together side by side, for example, with tape, or purpose made ''magazine clamps'', also ...
. Later that evening (on June 7), police "unleashed a barrage of tear gas and flash bangs" on a crowd outside the East Precinct on Capitol Hill despite the 30 day ban on tear gas. Aubreanna Inda, a 26-year-old protester, experienced
cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest (also known as sudden cardiac arrest CA is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. When the heart stops beating, blood cannot properly Circulatory system, circulate around the body and the blood flow to the ...
after being shot repeatedly with flash grenades by police while kneeling. Police Chief
Carmen Best Carmen Best (born c. 1965) is an American former law enforcement officer who served as the chief of police of the Seattle Police Department from 2018 to 2020. She was the first black woman to lead Seattle's police force. She was chief of police du ...
defended the use of tear gas, saying that the 30 day ban exempts
SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
officers and "life safety issues." City Councilwoman
Kshama Sawant Kshama Sawant ( ; born October 17, 1973) is an Indian-American politician and economist who served on the Seattle City Council from 2014 to 2024. She was a member of Socialist Alternative as the first and only member of the party to date to be ...
was among the victims and claimed that there was no provocation from protesters before tear gas was deployed. The following day, Kshama Sawant alongside fellow Councilwomen
Teresa Mosqueda Teresa Carmen Mosqueda (born July 4, 1980) is an American politician and labor activist from Seattle, Washington. She is a King County Council member and has represented District 8 since 2024. Mosqueda was a member of the Seattle City Council fr ...
and
Tammy Morales Tammy Janine Morales (born October 23, 1968) is an American politician from Seattle, Washington. She was elected to represent District 2 on the Seattle City Council in November 2019. In December 2024, Morales announced she would be stepping do ...
, called upon Mayor Jenny Durkan to resign over the way the city has handled the protests. Police use of flash grenades and tear gas continued and grew in intensity over the subsequent days.


Police retreat from the East Precinct

Early in the afternoon on June 8, police began removing all items of value from the East Precinct on Capitol Hill, preparing for the possibility that the East Precinct may need to be abandoned, as happened on May 28 in Minneapolis. The streets surrounding the precinct were reopened and protesters marched up to the precinct that evening. After police withdrew from the East Precinct of Seattle, six blocks adjacent to it were walled off by protesters with barricades to prevent another vehicle attack. The six blocks around the East Precinct were declared by protesters to be the
Capitol Hill Occupied Protest The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, originally Free Capitol Hill, later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an Occupation (protest), occupation protest and self-declared Autonomo ...
. On June 9, hundreds of protesters temporarily occupied
City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...
calling for the resignation of Mayor
Jenny Durkan Jenny Anne Durkan (born May 19, 1958) is an American attorney, former federal prosecutor, and politician who served as the 56th mayor of Seattle, Washington. She is the daughter of Martin Durkan. Durkan is a member of the Democratic Party. Afte ...
. An exposé by ''
The Seattle Times ''The Seattle Times'' is an American daily newspaper based in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1891, ''The Seattle Times'' has the largest circulation of any newspaper in the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region. The Seattle Time ...
'' on June 12 found that
Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...
had digitally altered photographs of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest to include a man armed with an assault rifle. The Fox News website also used a photograph of a burning scene from the Minnesota protests to illustrate their articles on Seattle's protests.


June 12 general strike

After meeting with Mayor Jenny Durkan on June 6, Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County called for a statewide
general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...
and silent protest march on June 12. The demands of the protest would be for police to keep their body cams on during protests and stop the sweeps of homeless camps, and for the City of Seattle to divest $100 million of the police budget used for
militarization of police The militarization of police (paramilitarization of police in some media) is the use of military equipment and Military tactics, tactics by law enforcement officers. This includes the use of armored personnel carriers (APCs), assault rifles, ...
and invest the money into social services, to drop their lawsuit against
King County King County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. The population was 2,269,675 in the 2020 census, making it the most populous county in Washington, and the 12th-most populous in the United States. The county seat is Seattle ...
over the
inquest An inquest is a judicial inquiry in common law jurisdictions, particularly one held to determine the cause of a person's death. Conducted by a judge, jury, or government official, an inquest may or may not require an autopsy carried out by a cor ...
process, to require that "'Community Oversight' be a part of the police contract bargaining process," and to develop and fund a Black Commission to address racial issues going forward. In the days leading up to the protest, occupiers of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest painted a giant colorful mural spelling out "Black Lives Matter" on East Pine Street. Many Seattle businesses closed for the day or closed early because of the general strike and to allow their employees to leave work and attend the protest. Black Lives Matter Seattle/King County claimed that about 60,000 people joined the silent protest march on June 12.


Juneteenth demonstrations

Hundreds gathered on June 18, the eve of
Juneteenth Juneteenth is a federal holiday in the United States, federal holiday in the United States. It is celebrated annually on June 19 to commemorate the End of slavery in the United States, ending of slavery in the United States. The holiday's n ...
, for a vigil in
Magnuson Park Magnuson Park is a park in the Sand Point, Seattle, Sand Point neighborhood of Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. At it is the second-largest park in Seattle, after Discovery Park (Seattle), Discovery Park in Magnolia, Sea ...
in remembrance of Charleena Lyles, a pregnant mother of four who was shot and killed at home in her apartment by Seattle police exactly three years prior in 2017. Local activist Andre Taylor, whose brother was killed by Seattle police in 2016, held a rally on June 19 in Judkins Park which was attended by Mayor Durkan and King County Executive
Dow Constantine James Dow Constantine (born November 15, 1961) is an American lawyer, urban planner, and politician who is the chief executive officer of Sound Transit. He was appointed in 2025 after resigning as county executive of King County, Washington, a p ...
. Thousands of people marched through the historically black
Central District Central District may refer to: Places * Central District (Botswana) * Central district, Plovdiv, Bulgaria * Central District, Xiamen, China, now Siming District, Fujian * Central, Hong Kong, also called Central District * List of Central District ...
to
Jimi Hendrix Park Jimi Hendrix Park is a park in Seattle, Washington named in honor of musician Jimi Hendrix, who was from Seattle. The park was named in 2006, and the opening of the park was announced in December, 2011 at the Northwest African American Museum ...
chanting "black lives matter." The march was organized by the King County Equity Now Coalition, a group which called upon the City of Seattle to divest $180 million from the police budget and invest $50 million of that into the local black community. While the Central District is historically black, much of the neighborhood's black community has been pushed out through a long process of
redlining Redlining is a Discrimination, discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of Race (human categorization), racial and Ethnic group, ethnic minorities. Redlining has been mos ...
,
racial covenants A covenant, in its most general and historical sense, is a solemn promise to engage in or refrain from a specified action. Under historical English common law, a covenant was distinguished from an ordinary contract by the presence of a seal. Be ...
,
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
and a rising cost of living in the city. Late that night, at 2:20 a.m., two people were shot in
Cal Anderson Park Cal Anderson Park is a public park on Seattle’s Capitol Hill that includes Lincoln Reservoir and the Bobby Morris Playfield. Features The north end of the open park features ''Waterworks'', a large mountain-shaped water fountain feeding a shal ...
within the boundaries of the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone. A 19-year-old man died and a second man was in critical condition in the
Intensive Care Unit An intensive care unit (ICU), also known as an intensive therapy unit or intensive treatment unit (ITU) or critical care unit (CCU), is a special department of a hospital or health care facility that provides intensive care medicine. An inten ...
with life-threatening injuries. Seattle police attempted to respond but were, according to the police blotter, "met by a violent crowd that prevented officers safe access to the victims." A later investigation by KUOW showed that miscommunication between Seattle police and Seattle Fire delayed city response to the victim. The victims were taken by a CHOP medic to
Harborview Medical Center Harborview Medical Center is a public hospital located in the First Hill neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is owned by King County and managed by UW Medicine. Overview Harborview Medical Center is the designated Disast ...
. The suspect remains at large and Seattle police have not released any description of the suspect.


July 4 freeway protest

On the early morning of July 4, a car drove onto a closed section of
Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...
, where several people were protesting, and struck two protesters. 23-year-old Summer Taylor from Seattle was killed, while 32-year-old Diaz Love of Portland, Oregon, who was live-streaming the protest on Facebook, remained for a time in critical condition at Harborview Medical Center; by July 13, Diaz Love self-reported being "in stable, satisfactory condition". Troopers from the
Washington State Patrol The Washington State Patrol (WSP) is the state patrol agency for the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Organized as the Washington State Highway Patrol in 1921, it was renamed and reconstituted in 1933. The agency is charged with the ...
(WSP) said that the driver drove the wrong way on the Stewart Street off-ramp in order to enter the closed section of I-5. A graphic video posted on social media showed the driver, a black man later identified as Dawit Kelete of Seattle, speeding into the crowd around 1:40a.m. in a white
Jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large felidae, cat species and the only extant taxon, living member of the genus ''Panthera'' that is native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the biggest cat spe ...
. After Kelete fled the scene, a protester chased him by car for about a mile where they both waited for the arrival of police. Kelete was arrested on two counts of vehicular assault. The WSP announced it would no longer allow protesters to enter I-5, which had been closed off late at night in downtown Seattle (between
I-90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...
and Washington State Route-520) for 19 nights prior to the collision. Kelete pled not guilty, however in 2023, Kelete was sentenced to six and a half years for the crime.


Mid-July and August events

After several weeks of calm with low-key protests, demonstrators returned to downtown Seattle on July 19. Police reported that peaceful demonstrators began to gather in the morning at Westlake Park but three hours later they were joined by a second group that was organized and more intent on property destruction. Several buildings were vandalized and police officers were injured, before the protesters dispersed after marching to Cal Anderson Park. The Capitol Hill neighborhood experienced vandalism, fires, and the looting of several businesses when a group of 150 people returned to the area at late at night on July 22. One of the businesses targeted was owned by a relative of the officer who fatally shot Seattle resident Charleena Lyles, a pregnant black woman, at home in 2017. On July 25, several thousand protesters gathered in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle for demonstrations in solidarity with
Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
. Tensions escalated in the neighboring city in early July after the Trump administration deployed federal forces against the wishes of local officials, stirring controversy and regenerating the protests. The
Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...
deployed an undisclosed number of federal agents to Seattle on July 23, without notifying local officials, adding to anxieties for the city's residents. A July 25 march by the Youth Liberation Front gathered peacefully for several hours in the early afternoon, but was later designated a riot by the SPD after the protest devolved into property destruction towards several businesses and fires were started in five construction trailers near a future juvenile detention center. Many marchers reportedly participated out of an understanding that the two central issues of the protest, police brutality and federal overreach, were deeply connected. Among the businesses vandalized was the Starbucks at 12th and Columbia Street, which had all windows shattered, merchandise stolen, and profanity spray painted throughout the building. The personal vehicles of several employees at the youth jail were vandalized with broken windows, graffiti and slashed tires. KIRO reported that 47 people were arrested and 21 police officers were injured. On July 26, around 5 p.m. protesters returned to Capitol Hill and gathered at
Seattle Central College Seattle Central College is a public college in Seattle, Washington, United States. With North Seattle College and South Seattle College, it is one of the three colleges that comprise the Seattle Colleges District. The college has a substantial ...
with "Black Lives Matter" and "defund police" signs. About an hour and a half later protesters marched toward the East Precinct and set up a line on East Pine Street near 12th Avenue using signs, recycling and garbage bins. No arrests, clashes, or property damage was reported. On August 9, hundreds of pro-police and "Back the Blue" supporters gathered at Seattle City Hall to protest and to call on City Council to not defund the SPD. A group of counter-protesters gathered across the street from City Hall to support defunding the police. Police kept the two groups separate. Later that evening, a group of around 100 people marched along Broadway from Cal Anderson Park. Vandals within the group damaged 8 businesses in Seattle's First Hill neighborhood with much of the damage occurring along Madison Street over to Broadway. Police arrested 6 individuals.


Office of Police Accountability complaints from June 1

On June 1, Seattle's independent Office of Police Accountability announced that it received some 12,000 individual complaints about police behavior during the first few days of George Floyd protests in the city. The following is a list of ten specific incidents that received the highest number of complaints. * "Pepper spraying a young girl (Saturday)" * "Punching a person on the ground who was being arrested (Friday)" * "Placing a knee on the neck area of two people who had been arrested (Saturday)" * "Covering up badge numbers" * "Failing to record law enforcement activity on body-worn video" * "Pepper spraying peaceful protestors (Saturday)" * "The use of
flashbangs Flash-bang may refer to: *Stun grenade, a non-lethal explosive device used to temporarily disorient an enemy's senses *Artillery sound ranging Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of in ...
, including causing a significant thumb injury (Saturday)" * "Failing to secure rifles in the rear of a patrol vehicle (Saturday)" * "Punching a person on the ground who was being arrested (Sunday)" * "Officers breaking down windows of a
Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...
store"


Government response

Washington State Governor
Jay Inslee Jay Robert Inslee ( ; born February 9, 1951) is an American politician and lawyer who served from 2013 to 2025 as the 23rd governor of Washington. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 1993 to 1995 and again from 1999 to 2012 as a ...
ordered the activation of the
Washington National Guard The Washington National Guard is one of the four elements of the State of Washington's Washington Military Department and a component of the National Guard of the United States. It is headquartered at Camp Murray, Washington and is defined by ...
on May 30 in response to the riot. As a consequence of the May 30 events, all Seattle-bound service by
Washington State Ferries Washington State Ferries (WSF) is a public ferry system in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is a division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and operates 10 routes serving 20 terminals within Puget ...
,
Kitsap Fast Ferries Kitsap Fast Ferries is a passenger ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometime ...
and the Seattle Water Taxi was suspended, with
Colman Dock Colman Dock, also called Pier 52, is the primary ferry terminal in Seattle, Washington, United States. The original pier is no longer in existence, but the terminal, now used by the Washington State Ferries system, is still called "Colman Dock ...
loading westbound traffic to Bainbridge Island and Bremerton only; many downtown streets were closed and bus service was halted; the Westlake and
Pioneer Square Pioneer Square may refer to: *Pioneer Courthouse Square, a town square in Portland, Oregon, United States *Pioneer Square, Seattle, a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States See also *Pioneer Square station (Sound Transit), a light ra ...
light rail stations were also closed by Sound Transit. The Washington State Department of Transportation rerouted Interstate 5 freeway traffic away from Downtown Seattle in a 20-mile detour across the
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, is a floating bridge that carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs ...
and Interstate 90 floating bridges, and through the Eastside.President
Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...
criticized the response of Governor Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan, claiming that they were not effective in dealing with protesters, especially regarding the
Capitol Hill Occupied Protest The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, originally Free Capitol Hill, later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an Occupation (protest), occupation protest and self-declared Autonomo ...
and the Seattle police's abandonment of the East Precinct. Trump threatened to retake the city if local leaders did not reassert their authority. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan issued an executive order, declaring an end to the zone and authorized police to clear the area. On July 1, the police cleared the protest zone and retook the East Precinct soon-after. In order to find violent and destructive agitators the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
monitored the protests and provided intelligence to the Seattle Police Department. The FBI monitored both alleged threats within and against the protests, and they worked with Seattle police when the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone was cleared. False info about FBI involvement


Procedural changes

Following a large and peaceful demonstration on June 3, the City of Seattle announced several changes to its policing protocols, including restrictions on badge coverings for officers. The Seattle City council voted unanimously on June 15 to demilitarize the police department by banning the purchase and use of crowd control weapons including tear gas, pepper spray, flashbang grenades and rubber bullets. The city council also voted to prohibit the use of "choke holds" by Seattle Police. On July 24, in response to a request the
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
,
U.S. District Judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the United States federal judiciary, U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each United States federal judicial district, federal judicial district. Each district cov ...
James Robart James Louis Robart (born September 2, 1947) is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington. Early life and education Robart was born in Seattle, Washington, in 1947. Robart's f ...
issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the law from taking effect. City Attorney
Pete Holmes Peter Benedict Holmes (born March 30, 1979) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and podcaster. Holmes gained recognition in the early 2010s as a stand-up comic, during which he launched his podcast ''You Made It Weird'' (2011–p ...
announced that the city would withdraw its request to lift a federal
consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...
that had been imposed following a
U.S. Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of federal laws and the administration of justice. It is equi ...
investigation in 2012. The city government also announced a 30-day ban on the use of
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymatory agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the Mace (spray), early commercial self-defense spray, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the ey ...
by police on protesters in response to outcry from Capitol Hill residents who had been affected by its use. The ban did not apply to
SWAT A SWAT (''Special Weapons and Tactics'') team is a generic term for a police tactical unit within the United States, though the term has also been used by other nations. SWAT units are generally trained, equipped, and deployed to res ...
and other special officers. The
Seattle Public Schools Seattle Public Schools is the largest Public school (government funded), public school district in the state of Washington (state), Washington. The school district serves almost all of Seattle. Additionally it includes sections of Boulevard Par ...
voted on June 24 to terminate contracts with the local police departments.


Arrests

At least 55 people were arrested in Seattle during the May 30 riots. A man was arrested near the East Precinct in Capitol Hill on June 7, after he drove into a protest and shot a protester. On June 11, federal authorities in full SWAT gear arrested Margaret Channon, a 25-year-old Tacoma woman, for allegedly setting fires in five police vehicles during the May 30 riot in Seattle. Channon was charged with five counts of arson in U.S. District Court in Seattle. On the morning of July 1, there were 44 people arrested in Seattle for refusing to disperse as Seattle police retook the East Precinct and cleared the Capitol Hill Organized Protest zone. That night, 25 more people were arrested near Broadway and East Pine. The following night, on July 2, three people were arrested outside the West Precinct in the Denny Triangle and then later that night seven more were arrested near Broadway and East Pine Street. A man was arrested on July 4 and charged with two counts of vehicular assault after driving into a crowd of protesters on I-5 in Seattle, killing one protester and critically injuring another. On July 25, after declaring a riot, police made more than two dozen arrests for "assault on officers, obstruction and failure to disperse" during a protest in the Capitol Hill neighborhood near the former CHOP zone.


Seattle police exodus

In the months following the protests, at least 118 police officers including Chief
Carmen Best Carmen Best (born c. 1965) is an American former law enforcement officer who served as the chief of police of the Seattle Police Department from 2018 to 2020. She was the first black woman to lead Seattle's police force. She was chief of police du ...
left the Seattle Police Department, mostly due to low morale and budget cuts, seeking jobs with neighboring police departments. Retiring from police work, Best began working as a law enforcement analyst at local news station
King 5 KING-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Seattle, Washington, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside Everett-licensed KONG (channel 16), an independent station. The two stations share studios at the Home ...
. By October, the Seattle Police Officer Guild warned that some 911 calls may go unanswered and that response times will be longer due to lack of personnel.


See also

*
1999 Seattle WTO protests The 1999 Seattle WTO protests, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Seattle, were a series of anti-globalization protests surrounding the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, where members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened at the ...
*
Capitol Hill Occupied Protest The Capitol Hill Occupied Protest (CHOP), also known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest, originally Free Capitol Hill, later the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ), was an Occupation (protest), occupation protest and self-declared Autonomo ...
*
Killing of Manuel Ellis Manuel Ellis was a 33-year-old African American man who died during an arrest on March 3, 2020, in Tacoma, Washington by the Tacoma Police Department. The Pierce County Sheriff's Department initially claimed that Ellis had attacked a police car ...
*
Occupy Seattle Occupy Seattle was a series of demonstrations in Seattle, Washington, United States in 2011 and 2012, that formed part of the wider Occupy movement taking place in numerous U.S. and world cities at that time. The demonstrations were particular ...
*
Seattle General Strike The Seattle General Strike was a five-day general work stoppage by 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington from February 6 to 11, 1919. The goal was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when ...


References


External links


Video footage and graphic visualizations of the Capitol Hill conflict, at the Western barricade
''New York Times,'' June 26, 2020 {{George Floyd protests, state=uncollapsed 2020 in Seattle George Floyd protests in Seattle
Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
Protests in Seattle Riots and civil disorder in Washington (state)