Occupy Seattle was a series of demonstrations in

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 ...

, Washington, United States in 2011 and 2012, that formed part of the wider

Occupy movement The Occupy movement was an international populist Social movement, socio-political movement that expressed opposition to Social equality, social and economic inequality and to the perceived lack of real democracy around the world. It aimed primar ...

taking place in numerous U.S. and world cities at that time. The demonstrations were particularly focused on the city's

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business district ( ...

area including Westlake Park and

Seattle City Hall Seattle City Hall (also known as the Seattle Municipal Building) is the home of the offices of the mayor and city council of Seattle, Washington, located between 4th Avenue and 5th Avenue in the downtown area of the city. Most city departments ha ...

; their stated aim was to oppose

wealth inequality The distribution of wealth is a comparison of the wealth of various members or groups in a society. It shows one aspect of economic inequality or economic heterogeneity. The distribution of wealth differs from the income distribution in that ...

, perceived

corporate greed Criticism of capitalism typically ranges from expressing disagreement with particular aspects or outcomes of capitalism to rejecting the principles of the capitalist system in its entirety. Criticism comes from various political and philosophic ...

, and

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

in the

banking A bank is a financial institution that accepts Deposit account, deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital m ...

and

economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

systems of the United States. Occupy Seattle was inspired by the

Occupy Wall Street Occupy Wall Street (OWS) was a left-wing populist movement against economic inequality, capitalism, corporate greed, big finance, and the influence of money in politics that began in Zuccotti Park, located in New York City's Financial ...

protests in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in September 2011, which in turn were inspired by the

Arab Spring The Arab Spring () was a series of Nonviolent resistance, anti-government protests, Rebellion, uprisings, and Insurgency, armed rebellions that spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. It began Tunisian revolution, in Tunisia ...

. As late as June 2012, Occupy Seattle continued to engage in organized meetings, events and actions.

Overview

Occupy Seattle began with a demonstration at the Federal Building in

downtown Seattle Downtown is the central business district of Seattle, Washington. It is fairly compact compared with other city centers on the U.S. West Coast due to its geographical situation, being hemmed in on the north and east by hills, on the west by ...

on September 26, 2011. The movement then relocated to Westlake Park on October 1. At first, Westlake was mostly used as a gathering site. Small groups of 20 to 30 people remained overnight, but, the majority of the work still took place during the day. In time, the agenda of the day activities was expanded and organized to fashion a direct democracy led by a General Assembly and supported by work groups. Concern among some movement members about the feasibility of remaining at Westlake indefinitely lead some members of the movement to take The Mayor up on his offer to camp at City Hall. The Westlake Camp was forced out of the park on the morning of October 17. At this time, the heart of the Occupy Seattle Camp was relocated to City Hall. Several efforts over the following weeks were made to retake the Westlake Location. However, those trying to retake Westlake were met with continuous resistance by the Seattle Police Department. Although City Hall was a more stable location-complete with power, security guards and reduced police presence, many members of the movement felt that City Hall wasn't a sufficient main camp site. The limited space and terms of the permit, put a tremendous amount of pressure on those camping at City Hall. This came to a boiling point in late October/early November causing many occupiers to depart the site. Seattle Central Community College (SCCC) was established on October 29, 2011, and the nightly General Assembly moved to SCCC on November 4, 2011. The SCCC Camp was evicted on December 9 and much of the movement has moved indoors, in backyards of supporters, and several mini-occupies remain throughout the city. Some facilities and camping are also located at Seattle City Hall which continue on to this date. General Assemblies have been relocated to Washington Trade and Convention Center at 7pm on Tues, Wed, Fri and Sunday. According to a news report, the City of Seattle has spent an extra $104,869 as of October 14, 2011, in response to the protest for overtime pay for police and parks & recreation personnel.Thompson, Lynn (October 19, 2011.
"Occupy Seattle has cost city $105K so far."''The Seattle Times''
Accessed October 2011. Police overtime pay comprised the majority of overtime expenses at $97,200. Ten protesters were arrested for obstructing on the evening of October 13 after refusing to vacate Westlake Park after it had closed. On October 15, the Occupy Seattle movement had its largest demonstration to date, with over 3,000 people rallying in Westlake Park.(October 17, 2011.
"Arrests after Occupy Seattle defies eviction."CBS News
Accessed October 2011. On the morning of October 17, 2011, Seattle police informed campers at Westlake Park that tents had to be removed for city personnel to clean the park. It was reported that during this incident six demonstrators who didn't comply with the order were arrested. The city of Seattle issued permits for Occupy Seattle on October 18, 2011, which limits camping at Westlake Park and enforces the park's closure at 10:00 PM.(October 20, 2011.
"City issues permits for Occupy Seattle."''The Herald''
Accessed October 2011. Another permit for protests occurring at Seattle's city hall plaza allows camping with the stipulation that tents are to be deconstructed by 7:00 AM. It was reported that police are enforcing a rule in Westlake Park in which umbrellas are only allowed to be used while being held, and are not allowed to be used as tent-like shelters.

Key events

November 2 Chase Bank demonstration

On November 2, Occupy Seattle protesters demonstrated at a Chase Bank on 12th Ave; the demonstration was a reaction to Chase CEO

Jamie Dimon James Dimon ( ; born March 13, 1956) is an American businessman who has been the chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of JPMorgan Chase since 2006. Dimon began his career as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. After earnin ...

's visit to Seattle. At 3:00, five protesters entered the bank and linked together via chain and pieces of PVC and facing out from the tellers. In addition about a dozen demonstrators sat in front of the police van to prevent it from moving and were eventually pulled away. After being warned to leave the bank, Seattle Police arrested the demonstrators. During the demonstration, ten police officers were physically assaulted by protesters, one officer was struck with an empty beer bottle, two suffered minor injuries. Pepper spray was used to provide cover for the officers under attack and disperse the assailants.

November 15 march

On November 15, a march commenced from the Seattle Central Community College campus to Belltown. At one point during the march, a 17-year-old female swung a stick at an officer. After officers moved in to arrest the female, the officers were hindered in their efforts; after issuing an order to disperse the officers deployed pepper spray to move subjects away from them so they could arrest the female suspect. Police wer
filmed spraying the crowd
of people with pepper spray. It was reported that the victims included "a 4-foot 10-inch, 84-year-old woman, a priest and a woman, Jennifer Fox, who claimed the pepper spray led to a miscarriage." However, doubts have been cast on the truth of Fox's claim of pregnancy. The 84-year-old woman mentioned was Dorli Rainey a former mayoral candidate who has been active in city government on education and transportation issues since the 1960s. That night, Rainey was en route to City Hall to attend a scheduled meeting of the

Seattle City Council The Seattle City Council is the legislative body of the city of Seattle, Washington. The Council consists of nine members serving four-year terms, seven of which are elected by electoral districts and two of which are elected in citywide at-larg ...

's Transportation Committee. Dorli Rainey was photographed as she was being carried away by friends after having been hit with the police's chemical spray.

December 12 Port of Seattle demonstration

The demonstration's goal was advertised to "disrupt Wall Street on the waterfront" and in solidarity with truck drivers' and longshoremen's unions. The Occupy Seattle movement was not well received by maritime unions. Robert McEllrath, President of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union, said "Support is one thing, organization from outside groups attempting to co-opt our struggle in order to advance a broader agenda is quite another and one that is destructive to our democratic process." However, port truckers across the nation indicated their solidarity with the day of port shut-downs, signaling their own poor working conditions. On December 10, at 1:30 an estimated 400 Occupy Seattle demonstrators left Westlake Park along 2nd Ave as part of a larger effort to shut down West Coast ports. After reaching Terminal 18, protesters divided themselves into different zones; red, yellow, and green differentiating the likelihood of arrest. The demonstrators blocked traffic to Spokane Street in both directions. The protesters then took multiple sections of fencing and dragged it across the roadway leading to the terminal gate. There allegedly were numerous dispersal orders were given to the marchers, however police alleged demonstrators pulled more fencing into the roadway and began throwing burning flares, bags of bricks, and bags of paint, rebar and other debris at the police officers and police horses monitoring the demonstration. Eleven adults were arrested for various violations including Failure to Disperse, Obstructing and Assaulting an Officer. Nine were released on own recognizance while two were held overnight for felony assault on an officer.http://occupyseattle.org/document/ga-minutes Occupy Seattle GA minutes>

References

General sources

* Ryan, Natasha (October 1, 2011.
"'Occupy Seattle' members gather downtown."King5 News
Accessed October 2011. * Heffter, Emily (October 1, 2011.
''The Seattle Times''
Accessed October 2011. * (October 7, 2011.
"Unions Support Occupy Seattle Demonstration."Fox News
Accessed October 20, 2011.

External links

* {{Occupy movement 2011 in Washington (state) Occupy movement in the United States Culture of Seattle Organizations based in Seattle Occupy Protests in Seattle