Six people were arrested Tuesday after police say they disrupted a city council meeting.
Officers were called to Seattle City Council chamber around 2:55 p.m. “as people filled the room and continued to interfere with the session,” police said in a news release.
The three men and three women were told to leave the chamber, but police say they refused and were told they would be arrested if they continued to interrupt. All six were charged with criminal trespass, and one of the men was also charged with obstruction.
Video of the meeting was posted on the city’s Seattle Channel website, lasting just under two and a half hours. Two recesses were taken during that time, including one taken at the time police were called. It was supposed to last 15 minutes but went on for more than an hour.
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Dozens of people packed the Seattle City Council chamber with signs and banners during the Feb. 27, 2024, meeting. (Seattle Channel via City of Seattle)
Police say the city council meeting was able to resume after the arrests and many others left the chamber without any issues, but chanting and banging on windows could be heard when council members attempted to continue.
“Our physical safety is being threatened by the actions of the demonstrators outside banging on the windows, which could easily get broken, and we will have a mob scene,” District 5 council member Cathy Moore said while asking for police assistance. “I physically feel threatened.”
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Protesters interrupted the meeting multiple times, prompting security and police to respond. (Seattle Channel via City of Seattle)
The protesters were referred to as “progressive activists” by local radio reporter Jason Rantz on the social media platform X. He said they were demanding that the city fund housing for refugees, even though “they are not even being housed in Seattle currently.”
Many of them used the public comment portion of the meeting to talk about the issue.
“The issues of refugee housing and police surveillance are related,” a woman named Lauren said. “More money for police surveillance and ineffective and racist technologies like [‘Spothotter’] means less money for asylum seekers and other low-income people who desperately need housing.”
Seattle City Council member Cathy Moore said she felt “physically threatened” by the protesters at Tuesday afternoon’s meeting. (Seattle Channel via City of Seattle)
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Seattle police would not identify the six arrested following an inquiry from Fox News Digital, instead referring to the public records request process. All six were said to be booked into the King County Jail.
No injuries or use of force by Seattle police officers were reported.
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