Seattle police change tactics after Dorli pepperspray incident
The following report in the Capital Hill Times shows the difference in how the Seattle police are now dealing with protests and protesters. One activist believes it is because of how the police were shamed by what happened to Dorli Rainey last November.
Is the Seattle Police Department learning? A pair of recent protests on the Hill shows two very different strategies from the police
On Friday, June 29, about 100 protesters took to the streets of Capitol Hill in objection to the Seattle Police Department’s handling of a Pride march the weekend before. The protests went off without a hitch, unlike the one that inspired it…
Ian Finkenbinder, a local activist and main organizer for both of the protests, said the main difference between the two protests, and their outcomes, had to do with how they handled them.
The first protest was scheduled, but not heavily advertised other than some e-mails sent to members of the press, and was meant to be more of a flash mob event in which people dance in the streets. The second protest was much more heavily promoted, giving police more time to plan.
Finkenbinder said he thinks one of the main reasons the SPD did not use force Friday was, in part, because of the undeniable presence of the local media, which were largely not present during the first protest. He said it reminded him of the Occupy protests that happened in November when 84-year-old activist Dorli Rainey was pepper sprayed by the SPD.
“The day after Dorli Rainey’s pepper-spraying there was a massive action which shut down the University Bridge and caused incredible traffic snarling in the U district and in Eastlake,” Finkenbinder said. “The cops did nothing. I surmised at the time that it was because there were many many more of us, and they had been pretty severely shamed in the press. I think those elements, to include heavy media presence, definitely discouraged police violence at our latest meeting.”
Read more: Is the Seattle Police Learning…