On Jan. 17, a small group of demonstrators organized by Justice for Mike Brown-Seattle gathered in front of Seattle Central Community college in support of #handsupdontshoot #Blacklivesmatter and to fight for police accountability as well as the ending of racial inequality. At 3 PM, as the group assembled in front of the college on Broadway in Capitol Hill, it attracted many nods of solidarity from people who believed in what we are fighting for but couldn’t join us in our fight.
The protesters then decided to march from Broadway to the Seattle Police Department East Precinct at 12th and Pine and to protest police brutality in front of them to deliver our powerful message to their faces. Activists from the ANSWER Coalition carried a banner calling for an end to police terror and for justice for Tamir Rice, Mike Brown, and countless other innocent Black people who have been slaughtered by racist police.
When we arrived at the police precinct we held our banner in clear view across the street from the police department on Pine street and chanted more, saying things like ” Suspicious, the system is, these racist cops keep killing kids” and “No justice, no peace! no racist [Seattle] police!” Six police officers came our direction but it was unclear whether their presence was meant to intimidate us or they were being deployed on bicycles into the vicinity. Regardless, we kept chanting and singing while receiving more shows of solidarity from drivers who honked horns and showed thumbs up as gestures of support.
After more than an hour of protesting in heavy rain protesters decided to wrap up the event and move back to the ANSWER office where we discussed the issues we were fighting against more thoroughly and to also dry off as a few of us were soaking wet. All in all this was an amazing event that demonstrated how numbers are not mandatory in order to grab attention and to make change.
