Police arrested 13 suspects for crimes including property damage, obstructing a public officer, and felony assault as a group marched through downtown Saturday evening. During the event, members of the group vandalized numerous buildings, threw rocks at officers and dragged various objects into streets to create barriers and obstructions.
At 7:00 p.m., individuals dressed mostly in black began to gather in Occidental Park in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. Around 8:00 p.m. the group started marching towards the waterfront while police monitored from a distance. On Alaskan Way between Yesler Way and Columbia Street, group members pulled barricades, fencing, and cones out of a construction zone and into the road, completely blocking several lanes of traffic. SPD officers gave multiple orders not to block the roadway. Based on the group’s actions, Washington State Patrol Troopers temporarily closed the ferry terminal until the marchers cleared the area.
At about 8:20 p.m., police in the 200 block of Columbia Street began arresting identified individuals who had tampered with the construction zone and blocked the street. As officers made those arrests, other members of the group began throwing rocks at police and attempting to prevent officers from arresting their fellow marchers. One officer was struck by a rock but did not get injured, thanks to his helmet.
Visible damage to officer’s helmet at rock point of impact. Large rock recovered at 2nd Ave and Columbia St.
Multiple rocks were collected from the scene, some of which were the size of a baseball and weighed as much as 1.7 lbs. Eight total arrests were made at this location: five for obstruction, two for pedestrian interference, and one for assault on an officer. Also near 2nd Avenue and Columbia Street, police recovered a backpack containing a hammer, a rock and two cans of spray paint.
Around 9:00 p.m., the group made their way to 2nd Avenue and Lenora Street, where they vandalized a business with spray paint and broke several large windows.
A short time later, officers near 3rd Avenue and Lenora Street spotted a previously identified suspect in the group who had pulled barriers into the street. The suspect attempted to run when told they were under arrest, but officers quickly caught and arrested them.
As the group continued moving through the downtown core area, officers saw a suspect break a glass sign display case at 6th Avenue and Pine Street as an accomplice attempted to conceal the crime with an umbrella. Police arrested the primary suspect for property damage, but the accomplice fled.
At 9:30 p.m., two members of the group were arrested for obstruction near 4th Avenue and Olive Street. One of the suspects grabbed an officer’s bicycle and the other ignored commands to move and physically interfered with police.
At 9:45 p.m. as the marchers began heading south on 3rd Avenue, a final arrest for pedestrian interference was made at 3rd Avenue and Union Street when an individual moved a barrier into the roadway.
By 10:00 p.m., the remainder of the group had made their way back to Occidental Park, where some changed out of their “black bloc” attire and dispersed.
Four of the arrestees were booked into the King County Jail and nine were processed and released from the West Precinct.