SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle has ended an emergency order issued following violence at downtown May Day protests that allowed police to confiscate items that could be used as weapons.
At a Wednesday news conference, Mayor Mike McGinn and police chief John Diaz displayed dozens of items that were taken from protesters – including sharpened flag poles, rocks and chains.
McGinn issued the order Tuesday afternoon after black-clad protesters smashed storefronts and car windows. There were no injuries reported, but police say eight people were arrested. Authorities say they anticipate more arrests in the future as authorities review videos and other evidence.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
Black-clad protesters using sticks and bats smashed stores and automobile windows during May Day demonstrations that turned violent in Seattle, and police recovered homemade incendiary devices made from toilet paper rolls and fruit juice boxes.
Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn issued an emergency order Tuesday, allowing police to confiscate items that could be used as weapons. By Tuesday night, police had seized about 70 such items, including one with at least a dozen cigarette lighters taped together.
“Our concerns were real, and I think we handled it as best we could,” police Sgt. Sean Whitcomb said late Tuesday night. “These were, for the most part, peaceful demonstrations. It’s such as shame that such a small group of individuals were able to hijack the event and dilute the message to one of violence. They came here and they smashed it up.”
Police arrested at least a dozen people throughout the day, as hundreds marched through downtown. Later in the day, two planned marches for immigrant rights and other social issues were mostly peaceful, though the large crowds disrupted rush hour traffic and temporarily rerouted city buses.
By late evening, however, rain and winds had thinned the crowds. Whitcomb said late Tuesday that police officers would continue their patrols and monitor activity overnight.
“We appreciate that the vast majority of people out there are peaceful participants,” McGinn said at an afternoon news conference. “What we know from WTO previously is you get a group of people committed to cause damage…My direction to police is I expect them to respond to law breaking swiftly and aggressively.”
McGinn said many of the most violent protesters — those who had caused damage with rocks, hammers and tire irons — tried to hide in the larger crowd early Tuesday afternoon by shedding their all-black clothes.
At the federal appeals court building, an FBI evidence team arrived after protesters shattered glass doors with rocks and threw or shot a smoke bomb toward the lobby. The device hit the only door that didn’t break, spun off into some nearby bushes and started a small blaze that quickly burned itself out.
The entrance to the Niketown store was completely smashed in, with chunks of broken glass littering the sidewalk. Vandals splattered paint across the store and a neighboring business. Police on bicycles moved in and dispersed people, and the entrances were soon closed off with police tape.
Charlone Mayfield, a retired medical industry worker from Seattle, was inside a Verizon cellphone store when she saw the crowd approach. One of the protesters broke off from the group and struck the window as she watched.
“He started hitting the window with his baseball bat…I was here when WTO happened, this is really scary,” Mayfield said.
Traditionally, May Day honors labor and workers’ rights. In Seattle, it drew hundreds of demonstrators for immigration rights and from the Occupy movement, with several groups converging on a park near downtown for rallies and music.
A separate group held an organized march for immigrants’ rights that proceeded to a downtown bank branch and then staged a rally.
“Our march is about the workers and the immigrants,” said Rafael Garcia, 27, who pushed his 1-year-old son in a stroller.
Earlier Tuesday at the American Apparel store next to Niketown, assistant manager Mia Harrison was folding sweaters when she heard the commotion.
“I decided to go out on the sidewalk, and I saw all the people in black masks running to Niketown and our store. They started to throw smoke bombs and canisters,” she said.
The vandals shattered a door and cracked two windows. No one was hurt.
“It’s pretty sad, almost like someone broke into my house,” Harrison said.
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Associated Press writer Doug Esser contributed to this report.
