‘You’ve neutered the agency’: SPOG president says poor staffing can’t contain escalating Seattle protests

Counterprotesters swarmed a controversial rally led by a Christian pro-life group, Mayday USA, at Cal Anderson Park last weekend. Tensions quickly boiled over, with the confrontation requiring police assistance.

Once the dust settled, after items were thrown at officers, fencing was knocked down, and lots of things were exclaimed, 23 people were arrested.

“How did you think the Saturday event went, prior to SPD having to be utilized?” KTTH host Jason Rantz asked Mike Solan, the president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild (SPOG). “I mean, were you guys expecting that this would become something potentially dangerous?”

“Any time you put a peaceful group into what I call Antifa Land, Cal Anderson Park, you’re going to have some problems or potential problems,” Solan answered. “Granted, the people who got the permit to go there, they have every right to go into any park that they want and exercise their First Amendment rights. That’s a fact. The issue is, for our piece of this on the outside, the cops were attacked.

An additional eight people were arrested Tuesday, including multiple protesters for alleged assault, after a “First Amendment event” was held.

Russell Johnson, the lead pastor at Pursuit NW, announced his church would hold the protest at the steps of City Hall to demand the resignation of Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell after he blamed the religious group’s event for the weekend altercation, according to Johnson. On the day of the rally, counterprotestors announced that they would also be at the steps of City Hall an hour earlier.

Fourth Avenue was shut down from Jefferson to Cherry Street, and James Street, a popular thoroughfare, was shut down from 3rd Avenue to 5th, as protesters gathered in the vicinity.

“The city, in my view, has not taken this as seriously as they should,” Solan continued. “Whether it was naiveté or deliberate, we hope that good media personalities can unpack why this decision was made to hold it in a real contentious area of the city.”

SPD’s staffing holds them back from stifling violent confrontations

Solan believes situations like this only escalate due to a depleting number of available officers to quell escalating tensions.

“Whether or not we have the staffing for this, we don’t,” Solan said on “The Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH. “That’s echoed in our statement we put out, we just cannot handle these types of events. That’s not me throwing the white flag up and surrendering. What we’re saying is this is directly tied to our contracts and the continued march of calls for more accountability to control the police and dismantle us in the manner that they’ve done successfully. Now we’re seeing the results of this disastrous march towards criminal reform. You’ve neutered the agency.”

The Seattle LGBTQ Commission released a statement blaming the Seattle Police Department (SPD) for escalating the violence instead of diffusing it.

“Cal Anderson Park is not just public land but a sacred space for 2SLGBTQIA+ Seattleites in a neighborhood historically shaped by queer resistance, celebration, and visibility,” Seattle LGBTQ Commission’s statement read.

Solan was not surprised that the commission took this stance.

“You know, if you dig into who that group is, there are 16 of them: Eight appointed by the city council, eight appointed by the executives, and it’s my understanding the remainder comprise the Office of Civil Rights,” Solan said. “I really don’t give them any type of weight in terms of having an opinion that I care about. As we predicted in our press release, we said we’re (going) to get blamed again, and this city will not learn. Even the people who are appointed to be so-called representatives of a certain group of people that are part of the community here in Seattle, they still don’t get it.”

Listen to the full conversation here.

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