City teams arrived in Seattle early Friday morning to remove barriers in the downtown area of ”Capitol Hill Organized Protest” (CHOP), but encountered resistance from protesters, who were on the streets in front of vehicles and on top of makeshift structures.
SEATTLE CHOP ZONE PROMISES DEMAND FOR COMPANIES, RESIDENTS: REPORTS
Protesters lie down and sit on the street after Seattle Department of Transportation workers and heavy equipment arrived at the Capitol Hill Ocupied Protest (CHOP) area in Seattle on Friday, June 26, 2020, with the intent to remove the barricades that had been established. in the area (AP Photo / Ted S. Warren)
“City workers encountered significant resistance from protesters, who became increasingly agitated and aggressive,” a spokesman for Mayor Jenny Durkan’s office told Fox News.
Workers at the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) arrived around 6 am local time with trucks and heavy construction machinery, and were organized on the edges of the protest area. They ended up leaving the site at 8 in the morning without removing the barriers.
City workers intended to remove the barriers blocking the roads and clean up Cal Anderson Park, which has been inhabited for weeks by protesters in tents, the mayor’s spokesman told Fox News.
Seattle Department of Transportation workers speak to protest organizers near the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct building after SDOT arrived in the Capitol Hill Ocupied Protest (CHOP) area in Seattle on Friday, June 26, 2020, with the intention of removing the barricades that had been established. in the area (AP Photo / Ted S. Warren)
Efforts also include offering social services to protesters to “encourage those who live overnight in Cal Anderson to start leaving the area or, if they are homeless, to receive an offer of refuge,” the spokesperson said. .
The city intends to encourage protesters to leave the area, Durkan announced Monday, after several shootings that erupted in the area.
The protesters reportedly resisted allowing the barriers to be removed on Friday, indicating a small step toward engagement with the city, because “we demand that our demands be met,” said David Lewis, one of the CHOP organizers. King5 reported. .
Protesters designated a six-block radius of downtown Seattle as a “police-free” zone, and the downed East Precinct police were forced to withdraw from the area weeks ago, as protesters marched against police brutality and injustice. race after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis
Floyd died in police custody after a police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes, and his death has sparked a national outcry for a review of police practices.
The city said they will give organizers 72 hours to talk to protesters before the barriers are removed and talks with community organizers and city services continue.
“Security is the City’s first priority, and planning is underway to make a safe transition to the Capitol Hill area,” the mayor’s spokesperson told Fox News.
A sign on a barricade says “United, we are divided, we fall,” as a truck and other heavy equipment from the Seattle Department of Transportation organize in the CHOP (Busy Capitol Protest) area of Seattle on Friday, April 26, June 2020. (AP Photo / Ted S. Warren)
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Protesters ask Durkan to remove the police. Durkan initially strongly supported the protests and his takeover of the area, but after the violence that erupted in recent days, he said police will be allowed to return to his precinct in the coming weeks, although he has not specified. an exact date. .
Associated Press contributed to this report.
