SEATTLE — A team of federal security agents recently deployed to the Seattle area has withdrawn after pressure from local and state officials, Gov. Jay Inslee’s office announced Tuesday.
A tactical team of Customs and Border Protection (CPB) agents had flown to the Seattle area last week to beef up security at federal buildings amid recent protests.
But after objections by officials including Inslee, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and King County Executive Dow Constantine who said the federal show of force could fan conflicts the forces departed the Seattle area.
Durkan’s office received notice of the withdrawal in an email Tuesday from John Hill, a Department of Homeland Security assistant secretary.
“I have confirmed with CPB that their personnel demobilized and left Seattle,” Hill wrote in an email to city officials, which was provided to The Seattle Times by Durkan’s office.
The withdrawal came even as U.S. Attorney General William Barr appeared before Congress to defend aggressive federal crackdowns on demonstrators.
In testimony to the House Judiciary Committee Tuesday, Barr said “violent rioters and anarchists have hijacked legitimate protests” in major cities against police killings of Black people, sparked by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Seattle’s recent protests have included spasms of vandalism, arson and injuries to demonstrators and police, but have not featured a visible show of force by federal agents akin to the nightly clashes with demonstrators at the U.S. Courthouse in Portland.
Durkan, Inslee and other local elected leaders had expressed concerns about the deployment they said occurred without their consultation or consent, and they hailed the departure in coordinated statements Tuesday.
“This demobilization means Washingtonians no longer have to worry about the White House’s aim to provoke confrontation and undermine peaceful protests,” Inslee said. “Those peacefully protesting have raised the public’s consciousness of the urgent need for racial justice, and I have no doubt they will continue to use their voices to call for action.”
Durkan said President Donald Trump’s efforts to target cities led by Democrats was “chilling” and had “increased violence in Portland, Seattle and other cities across the country, which was what the president intended.”
Constantine said the “apparent swift departure of Trump’s uninvited and unneeded federal forces is a welcome turn of events.”
