Seattle mayor issues emergency order after May Day mayhem

As activists across the U.S. joined in worldwide May Day protests Tuesday, Seattle protestors dressed in black clothing smashed windows of retail stores and banks and spray-painted parked cars.


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Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn says he's making an emergency declaration allowing police to confiscate items that can be used as weapons following violent May Day protests that left storefronts and car windows shattered.

Police said officers made at least three arrests after hundreds of people marched through downtown Tuesday afternoon. A 23-year-old man was arrested for vandalism and a 19-year-old man with a knife was also arrested.

Protestors dressed in black clothing smashed windows of retail stores and banks, and spray-painted parked cars, reported Q13 FOX News. NikeTown, American Apparel, HSBC, and Wells Fargo were among the businesses protesters vandalized.

McGinn said protesters were using items that looked like flagpoles as weapons. He said his order would enable police to take those items away from people before they are used to cause damage. McGinn said his action would help protect public safety as protests continued into Tuesday evening.

As many as 2,000 people are expected to participate in the "May Day March for Immigrant and Workers Rights," which will start at Judkins Park at 5 p.m., and police said there will be a rally in front of the Federal Building at Second Avenue.

Activists across the U.S. joined in worldwide May Day protests Tuesday, with anti-Wall Street demonstrators leading the way in some cities as they tried to recapture the enthusiasm that propelled their movement last fall.

While some protesters clashed with police, the melees were far less violent than ones that erupted last fall when the movement was at its peak. Marches and strikes led to a handful of arrests but no major disruptions.

Many of the rallies, which drew activists pushing a variety of causes, also did not have the same drawing power that gatherings had last year for the Occupy movement or a half-dozen years ago for May Day rallies for immigration reform.

Across the world on Tuesday, protests drew tens of thousands of demonstrators into the streets from the Philippines to Spain. They demanded everything from wage increases to an end to cuts in education, health care and other austerity measures.

The U.S. protests were the most visible organizing effort by anti-Wall Street groups since the movement's encampments were dismantled last fall.

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Lou Buren of TWAU BLOG: Look at the photo above and ask yourself, what do I see? Do you see protesters? I don't. I see terrorists destroying property. Look at the way they are dressed. They planned from the get go to behave like this. What I can't understand is why the media is calling them protesters. I have no problem with people PEACEFULLY protesting. But when you start destroying property and fighting with police that's when people need to do some serious prison time.

I would advice mayors and leaders to nip this in the bud quickly and deal with these morons before the situation really gets out of hand. You can't stop them from protesting, but when they act like this and they have been. you most certainly can act, and act harshly.