George Floyd protests in Seattle
The city of Seattle experienced protests over the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and 2021. Beginning on May 29, 2020, demonstrators took to the streets throughout the city for marches and sit-ins, often of a peaceful nature but which also devolved into riots. Participants expressed opposition to systemic racism, police brutality and violence against people of color.
| George Floyd protests in Seattle | |
|---|---|
| Part of George Floyd protests in Washington state | |
Protesters at a sit-in at Seattle City Hall on June 3, 2020 | |
| Date | Summer 2020 |
| Location | Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
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| Status | Ended |
By June 8, there had been eleven straight days with major protests in Seattle. The Capitol Hill neighborhood experienced a week-long series of clashes between demonstrators and police near the East Precinct that culminated in the formation of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) area, after police abandoned the precinct on June 8. The month of June brought further protests including a Black Lives Matter general strike and silent protest march with 60,000 people on June 12 and several actions throughout the city for Juneteenth. The CHOP zone was reclaimed by police on July 1 after two fatal shootings. It was followed by a fatal vehicle collision with protesters on Interstate 5 over the July 4 holiday.
Major protests reemerged in opposition to the deployment of federal law enforcement in the city by the Trump administration. Additional actions occurred on July 19, July 22, and again on July 25, when several businesses were vandalized and five construction trailers were set on fire at a youth jail.