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“Black Bloc” Damages Cars, Business Downtown

Update @ 8 pm: Following Mayor McGinn’s emergency order, officers seized about 70 items which could be used as weapons during today’s demonstrations, including sharpened tape-wrapped wooden stakes; metal poles; screw-topped wooden staffs; a shield made from a plastic traffic barrier; and a corrugated metal portable barrier with sharp, jagged edges. You can view a gallery of some of the items here:

6:30 pm: Officers have made two more arrests–a 30-year-old man for pedestrian interference, and a 20-year-old man for vandalism–bringing the total to eight.

5:30 pm: So far, officers have made six arrests at demonstrations this evening.

The most recent arrests came just after 5pm, when officers took a 24-year-old man, a 30-year-old woman, and 28-year-old man into custody for felony assault at 1st Avenue and Pike Street  just after 5 pm. Preliminary information indicates the 30-year-old punched an officer, the 28-year-old grabbed an officer, and the 24-year-old spit on an officer.

4:45 pm: One additonal arrest near 1st Avenue and Pike Street. More details to come.

3:30 pm: Officers have seized homemade incendiary devices and bags of feces in downtown Seattle and made several arrests, after a group of men and women dressed all in black–known as a “Black Bloc”–used sticks, smoke bombs and improvised incendiary devices, rocks, paint, hammers, and tire irons to damage vehicles and businesses Tuesday afternoon.

Members of the “Black Bloc” broke windows at the Federal courthouse at 3rd Avenue and Marion, Bank of America at 5th Avenue and Olve Way, Wells Fargo Bank at 4th Avenue and Seneca, and Homestreet Bank at 6th and University. Niketown, American Apparel and multiple cars at 6th and Pike Street and 5th Avenue and Seneca.

As of 3 pm, officers had arrested a 23-year-old man at 6th and Union for vamdalism, and a 19-year-old man at 4th Avenue and Pike Street for carrying a fixed-blade knife.

In light of today’s events, Mayor Mike McGinn has also issued an emergency order giving officers the authority to seize anything that could be used as a weapon during today’s demonstrations.

If your property or business has been vandalized, please call SPD non-emergency line at 206 625-5011 or file a police report online.
 
We’ll post updates here and on our Twitter feed, @SeattlePD, as they’re available, and will provide updates on arrests every hour.