Judge Blocks Seattle's ban on Police use of tear gas - police get back to work

quote:

---

At least 16 people were arrested a day after a judge temporarily blocked an ordinance prohibiting police from using tear gas


Wall Street Journal



Protesters in Seattle threw rocks, fireworks and explosives at police officers during violent confrontations on Saturday, police officials said.

In updates on Twitter, the Seattle Police Department said the chaotic scene near its East Precinct station was a “riot,” with some demonstrators breaking windows and setting fire to property in the area. In June, Mayor Jenny Durkan had ordered police to abandon the East Precinct station, which had been the site of almost daily confrontations between officers and people protesting the killing of George Floyd.

At least 16 people were arrested on Saturday for either assaulting an officer, obstruction or failure to disperse, the police department said on Twitter. One officer was injured by an explosive, according to the department.

“Police have issued dispersal orders and deployed less-lethal munitions to clear the area,” the department said in one Twitter update.

The protests came a day after a federal judge temporarily blocked a Seattle ordinance that would ban police from using tear gas, pepper spray and other less-lethal tools as crowd-control measures.

The Seattle City Council unanimously passed the ban in June. It was supposed to take effect Sunday and would have coincided with demonstrations planned in the city in support of protests in Portland, Ore.

Seattle Chief of Police Carmen Best had said the law would leave her officers unable to protect property during violence.

On Friday, in an emergency hearing, U.S. District Judge James Robart issued a temporary restraining order requested by the Justice Department to block the new ordinance.

Since 2012, Seattle’s police force has been under a consent decree and federal oversight after the Justice Department found that the police used excessive force and had a pattern of biased policing methods.

In its effort to block the new ordinance, the Justice Department cited the consent decree and argued that the ban of less-lethal tools would result in more-harmful tactics by the police.

Earlier this week, Chief Best said in a letter to the City Council that the new ordinance would create “more dangerous circumstances” for police during the protests and that officers would be left to use only batons and shields.

---

quote:

---

“If I am not allowed to lawfully equip officers with the tools they have been trained to use to protect the community and themselves, it would be reckless to have them confront this level of violence under the current legal restrictions imposed by Council,” Chief Best said.

She also said that while many peaceful protests have been held in Seattle, two recent events, including one Wednesday, became violent, leading to wide-scale property destruction and attacks on officers.

In a statement Saturday, Chief Best said that because of the temporary restraining order, her officers would continue to carry pepper spray and blast balls, which are devices that create a loud noise and bright light when deployed and can contain chemical irritants.

---