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UPDATE: Huge protest in The Junction, report #1

June 6, 2020 12:58 pm
|      47 COMMENTS
 |   West Seattle news | West Seattle protests

12:58 PM: As previewed earlier, two groups of marchers are headed along California SW to join the 2 pm protest in The Junction – one from Morgan (more than 100 in our estimation) and one from Admiral.

More coverage to come.

1:20 PM: Already hundreds here at Walk All Ways. Follow the WSB Twitter account for updates. California/Alaska is blocked with protesters kneeling and lying down.

1:30 PM: After the arrival of Admiral marchers, the streets are full. (Added – aerial view from Paul Weatherman:)

1:54 PM: It’s raining. The crowd is listening to Donald Watts speak:

2:11 PM: Chris Porter speaks now. He leads the crowd in an attempt to hold their breath for 2 minutes. “Enough is enough” is his theme.

2:44 PM: The streets are still full. Students have spoken. So has King County Executive Dow Constantine, saying he’s never seen anything like this.

2:51 PM: Speakers are done; now musician Ayron Jones is performing.

The crowd has shrunk a bit around the edges but is still filling the heart of The Junction. Totally peaceful, by the way. (Added, another side note: The “stage” is Easy Street proprietor Matt Vaughan‘s iconic van.)

3:01 PM: The crowd knelt as Jones played the anthem:

3:22 PM: Finally able to add a few visuals here, pending full coverage later. Protest just wrapping up. It’ll take a while for the street to clear,though. One final view – as we arrived, Desmond Hansen was painting this by Jefferson Square:

3:44 PM: Traffic cam at California/Alaska shows most have cleared:

MUCH more to come in report #2 – this was just a bare-bones series of notes.

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47 Replies to "UPDATE: Huge protest in The Junction, report #1"

  • Millerab6 June 6, 2020 (1:00 pm)

    If headed to Junction rally and forgot water, we have you covered. 42nd Ave SW between Brandon and Dawson. Take one! (Parking still open at 1p.)

  • Millerab6 June 6, 2020 (1:17 pm)

    If headed to Junction rally and forgot water, we have you covered. 42nd Ave SW between Brandon and Dawson. Take one! (Parking still available at 1p.)

    • Mandy June 6, 2020 (3:05 pm)

      THANK YOU! You guys rock. ♥️

    • Katy Lloyd June 6, 2020 (6:13 pm)

      I walked by your house this morning, and saw your signs and cooler of water—made my day. 

  • Chuck Sigmund June 6, 2020 (1:20 pm)

    Can someone please share pictures?

    • WSB June 6, 2020 (2:18 pm)

      We have photos on Twitter and Instagram. Tons latee. Can’t get them above yet.

    • blaughw June 6, 2020 (2:26 pm)

      IF you can get the page to load, https://web6.seattle.gov/travelers/Traffic cam for Alaska + California has a live video feed.

  • blaughw June 6, 2020 (1:24 pm)

    The one from Admiral has waaaay more than 100.  Very interested to see an attempt an actual count of participants.  This is easily over 1000, and the Junction is in for a busy afternoon.People on the march are doing a good job keeping distance, for the most part.  

    • WSB June 6, 2020 (2:16 pm)

      Yes, it’s definitely more than 1k.

      • Steve June 6, 2020 (3:39 pm)

        At 1:10 the head of the march Reached Dakota n California. From the roof of my car I could see people curb to curb all the way back to Admiral. Marching from there the street was lined with people joining in. Good show people, If you have Justice, You have Peace. Black Lives Matter

      • Karen B. June 6, 2020 (6:18 pm)

        Great to see such a huge turnout! I wish I could have been there, as well.

  • wsres June 6, 2020 (1:42 pm)

    I support all of you, but in a Pandemic, I support you from home.

  • BLM June 6, 2020 (2:18 pm)

     I’m so proud to live in this community. Way to show up to support equality and justice for our African American friends and neighbors. I was particularly moved by so many families with little kids, which made up the majority of marchers. Thank you for teaching a new generation that they can do better than those that came before them. There is hope. 

  • Sassy June 6, 2020 (2:19 pm)

    As far as the eye can see up California. Thousands! Black Lives Matter!

    • ally cat June 6, 2020 (6:09 pm)

      ✊ Awesome!

  • D June 6, 2020 (2:27 pm)

    There were an estimated 500-700 people. I would say over 700. Proud of WS! BLM!

  • Zakira Sharma June 6, 2020 (2:30 pm)

    Where are you guys at right now. Am on my way to the junction where the protest are at. Please share the location

  • Onion June 6, 2020 (3:31 pm)

    Worthy cause, to be sure. But the social distancing guideline seems to be to maintain at least 6 inches between you and the next person. Yikes!

    • WSB June 6, 2020 (3:52 pm)

      Thank you to everyone who wore face coverings. Which was almost everyone that we saw.

  • prayforrain June 6, 2020 (3:39 pm)

    It was nice to see WS represent like that.  Way more people than I expected.   There was also a lot of coming and going.  It’d have been even more impressive had everyone  been there right at the same time.  

  • AMD June 6, 2020 (3:45 pm)

    Screen cap from traffic cam:

    • WSB June 6, 2020 (3:50 pm)

      Thank you for getting that! We were a bit technologically handcuffed in the midst of it.

      • AMD June 6, 2020 (6:22 pm)

        I’ll admit, I didn’t take the screen cap.  It was shared from someone else with permission.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen so many people in the Junction at once, though!

    • HS June 6, 2020 (4:09 pm)

      Woohoo! Such a great turnout! Now, take a moment and fill out your census (2020 census dot gov). Your answers help allocate federal money to your community, schools and community  services. Historical segregation (red lining) in West Seattle is anything south of Morgan street and east of 35th – Highline, Westwood, Roxhill, Delridge, etc. Help your community get funding so people in your community have more options and increased opportunity. 

  • Barb June 6, 2020 (3:46 pm)

    Thank you to all the businesses and individual people who gave out pizza, water, bananas and cheers to the large group walking today from the Admiral area. 

  • Kris June 6, 2020 (3:59 pm)

    So happy that so many people turned out for what sounds like a very peaceful gathering. This is when the message can be heard and not lost in the chaos. 

  • Protectcommunity June 6, 2020 (4:04 pm)

    Thank you all for showing up. I cant attend because of taking care if high risk family members. But hope more will undo the systematic racism in american institutions.

  • Just asking June 6, 2020 (4:11 pm)

    Wonder-Full. Were all the speakers men.

  • Earlybird June 6, 2020 (4:25 pm)

    In spite of the close proximity, I’ve never been part of a crowd with so much respect for personal space. Everyone was masked. We spread out as we marched. It was good to be together after 3 months of isolation. And now, in spite of our new phase 1.5 status, those of us in that large of a crowd are probably wise to resume quarantine as best we can in the interest of our community’s health!

  • MLyons June 6, 2020 (4:27 pm)

    I spoke with one of the police officers around 4pm. He said the crowd was far larger than the police expected, probably close to 2000 persons. He grew up in WS and said he’d never seen a crowd this large in the Junction. Good job WS on showing up and keeping things peaceful! 

    • WSB June 6, 2020 (4:31 pm)

      Crowd estimation is an art, not a science, and seldom makes everybody happy – but I would guess that’s closer to reality,

  • Loveylove June 6, 2020 (4:38 pm)

    A love letter to West Seattle: You are my community and I love living in West Seattle and I’m so proud of all who came out today in large numbers with big hearts. But I must say this to us white folks in WS: We MUST DO BETTER. I witnessed a Black family leave the protest today in tears and rage when Dow Constantine spoke at the rally. Look, if you’re not aware why that is harmful to our Black community then please google it. In short Dow is not for Seattle’s Black community and he has pushed and committed illegal acts to fund the new youth jail in King Co. That’s just the surface of the awful things he’s done. So if one Black family left in tears, then we did harm which is what we are supposed to be protesting against. We have to do better. We have to organize better and love better. Hear me. We white people. We have to fix white supremacy. And we must elect and support politicians who do the same. Dow is not one of those people. 

    • Vic June 6, 2020 (4:51 pm)

      well said.

    • Will S. June 6, 2020 (5:24 pm)

      What did Dow say? I was toward the back of the crowd and couldn’t get close enough to hear the speakers until it thinned out later. Dow went on for longer than it takes to say ‘I’m just so encouraged to see such a large crowd, and now I’ll shut up and listen and I promise to do better.’ All I could think of was Rep. Eliot Engel’s revealing hot mic moment from earlier this week, wherein he explained that it was important to his election campaign for him to be seen by the constituents he’s ignored for years. Then people behind me started to boo Dow and chant No New Youth Jail, and I chanted too. More minutes passed. Finally Dow got out of the way. 

    • Jo June 6, 2020 (7:05 pm)

      This is an incredibly important point. It’s great to see so many people show up. But what good is it going to do if a bunch of people show up saying ‘boo, racism’ while allowing some of the strongest perpetrators of structural white supremacy to take part? Unfortunately it turns it into a feel-good event without actually bringing around change. That said, it’s amazing to see this side of Seattle bring out so many.

      • wscommuter June 7, 2020 (11:17 am)

        You call Dow Constantine one “strongest perpetrators of structural white supremacy” … seriously?   That is an unbelievably outrageous statement I would expect of Kshama Sawant and other fools like her.  Your statement is pure Trumpian but just from a fringe-left perspective.  Few things will undermine the legitimacy of the BLM movement and speaking up about police abuse than those who push an agenda that is as offensively silly in the other direction.  

    • Michael Hock June 6, 2020 (9:10 pm)

      So incredibly well said!

    • Bradley June 6, 2020 (9:57 pm)

      How is Dow Constantine’s support for a new youth detention center somehow detrimental to African-Americans? I am absolutely NO supporter of Constantine, but most of the victims of violent and property crimes committed by youth are minorities. They need to be protected from those who victimize them. It’s the height of white supremacy for white people to let people of color be continually terrorized by teenage criminals in high-crime areas.

      • Carole June 7, 2020 (5:42 am)

        The “youth jail” is so much more than just a detention center. It has improved courtrooms, it has rooms where defense counsel can meet privately with clients. Not every charged minor is held in detention. There are counseling services, educational services, etc.  The old juvenile court building was a falling apart, rodent infested nightmare for both litigants and staff.  Clients had to meet with attorneys in a huge, noisy lobby with no privacy.  The detention area flooded in heavy rain. Educational offerings were inadequate and in crowded rooms.  In summer the rooms got into the high 90s and were unbearable.  The new Juvenile Justice Center is more humane, offers more services for children and families in a dignified and respectful setting.  It is not just a jail.  Yes, there are detention beds. Sometimes juveniles held on the most serious felonies simply cannot be released into the community. You can’t put them in adult jail.  The majority of charged defendants will remain out of custody while their cases progress.  

      • Opportunity to learn June 7, 2020 (9:26 am)

        I recommend reading about the school to prison pipeline, the way black and brown kids are criminalized in ways white students aren’t, etc. So You Want to Talk About Race is a good starter read. We don’t need to put more black and brown kids in detention. We need to change the system. That’s why people were booing Dow.

      • Will S. June 7, 2020 (10:56 am)

        In the field of criminology, there is a large body of evidence showing that children of color are confined at much higher rates than white kids who commit similar offenses. King County is no exception. Dow Constantine has been a stalwart proponent of a new youth jail that is excessively large given the county’s population and serious crime rates, creating a reasonable inference that the facility will be used to confine even more children of color for even less serious offenses. For years, he has consistently ignored a coalition led by people of color who have objected to the purpose, need and expense of the new facility. I personally don’t object to his presence at the demonstration if his purpose was to listen and learn in a way he has heretofore refused to do, but if he wants to express insincere support for these causes then he should expect to be heartily booed. 

  • Mandy June 6, 2020 (4:59 pm)

    So beyond proud to be a part of this community today. This was an experience that my family (including my two small children, 2&4yo) will never forget. It is so exciting to see how ready everyone is for change. ♥️

  • B June 6, 2020 (5:49 pm)

    For those interested in learning more about local, immediate demands, I think this is helpful: https://www.kingcountyequitynow.com

    It also includes links to local community-building organizations in Seattle you can donate to. 

    Keep up the fight, Seattle!

  • ScubaFrog June 6, 2020 (7:02 pm)

    Agreed @ Dow. Definitely part of the problem with Durkan and other narcissistic leaders who’ve allowed mass-incarceration, victimization and brutality to continue, painting a pretty picture as it continues.  I’m going to start voting against all incumbents.  How long has this farce of “reform” taken With no reform?  I think the only thing we can do now is DEFUND THE SPD in a way that will impact their militarization, salaries and stop the brutality.  I don’t know any other way of changing the aggression in police culture, particularly towards minorities and specifically towards blacks.  I don’t care who you vote for, but Vote, please.This was a great, knowledgeable, peaceful environment.  Black Lives Matter.  

  • Mel June 6, 2020 (7:45 pm)

    And this is why I love West Seattle. Moved from Atlanta a year ago, and was amazed even then to see BLM/Pride signs all over. Awesome pictures. WSB Thanks for sharing! 

  • Adrienne D June 6, 2020 (9:01 pm)

    I’m so proud…bummed I couldn’t be there today but hope to join next week perhaps?

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