A dozen police officers were injured in Seattle when they were attacked by violent demonstrators while monitoring a separate peaceful demonstration against police brutality and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
While a large group of demonstrators marched through downtown Seattle on Sunday afternoon, another smaller group formed at Westlake Center for an “Abolish ICE” rally and began breaking windows, vandalizing public property, and attacking officers.
Twelve officers were hurt during the altercation, police said, including one who was sent to the hospital with burns on his neck after a demonstrator threw a mortar-style firework at them.
Police, clad in riot gear, used pepper spray to clear the area and “stop the assault on officers,” the department said in a news release.
Two people were arrested as a result of the violence.
“Demonstrators went from Westlake Park to the Municipal Courthouse and then headed back north to the West Precinct, … leaving behind a trail of property destruction,” the department said. “These are criminal acts, not peaceful protests.”
The clash between protesters and police comes amid weeks of civil unrest in the United States following the death of George Floyd and other instances of black people dying at the hands of white police officers.
Seattle has seen some of the most violent outbursts, with demonstrators occupying a 6-block radius of the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood for weeks before law enforcement officers cleared the area.
President Trump has pointed to incidents in Seattle, Portland, and other major U.S. cities as proof that Democrats who run those municipalities are weak on violent crime and cannot keep the peace on city streets.
“A lot of people in jail, these are anarchists. These are not protesters. … These are people that hate our country. And we’re not going to let it go forward,” Trump said this week of violent demonstrations in Portland. “The governor and the mayor and the senators out there, they are afraid of these people. That’s the reason they don’t want us to help them. They’re afraid. … I really believe they’re actually, maybe even physically, afraid of these people because what they’re doing is incredible.”
Trump has threatened to deploy federal troops to large cities to quell the civil unrest, something mayors have said they do not need or want.
“We are aware of the developments and are actively monitoring the situation,” a spokeswoman for Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, a Democrat, told the Washington Post about the incident on Sunday.
Both Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan have criticized Trump in recent weeks and accused him of fanning the flames of tension between cities and law enforcement.
“A man who is totally incapable of governing should stay out of Washington state’s business,” Inslee said.
“Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker,” Durkan replied after Trump threatened to take control of her city.
Trump, whose reelection campaign picked up the endorsement of The National Association of Police Organizations, has cast himself as a “law and order” president and candidate.
The vast majority of police officers are selfless, courageous public servants,” Trump said as he signed an executive order encouraging police departments to improve training. “They’re great men and women.”
