Seattle police nabbed nine black-clad anti-capitalist protesters while dodging rocks, flares, bricks, canned food and Molotov cocktails flung at officers during a rowdy May Day demonstration. One officer was being treated for a head and facial laceration, but his condition was not immediately known.
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Q13Fox reported that the demonstrators also broke windows and spray painted buildings and parked cars along downtown streets.
Wilske had called the earlier march through downtown for workers and immigrants “very successful”. It also has become a day for immigrants and their allies to rally in the United States.
Seattle FBI Special Agent In Charge Frank Montoya Jr. said the FBI on Sunday morning questioned a person in Eastern Washington and seized items that could be used for incendiary devices.
Sixteen people were arrested and three officers hurt in that violence, which similarly erupted after a day of peaceful demonstrations to focus on workers’ rights, immigration issues and police treatment of minorities.
DAVID RYDER/REUTERS Rocks, fireworks, and other items were confiscated at Westlake Park after the beginning of a May Day protest.
After making arrests in several places, police said they had contained one group in a parking lot and were slowly allowing small groups to disperse, but were maintaining a presence in the area.
About 7 p.m., the bulk of the marchers double-backed, heading south along Second Avenue into downtown, where a flurry of clashes erupted near Second Avenue and Pike Street.
Around the world, union members have traditionally marched on May 1 for workers’ rights.
At least seven people were arrested and two officers were injured, according to Seattle Police. In 2013, police arrested 18 people who pelted rocks and bottles at officers.
Some downtown businesses earlier boarded up storefronts, anticipating violence.
Hundreds of people marched through Seattle’s Central District and downtown as part of May Day festivities to support immigrants and workers.
Meanwhile, social justice advocates in Durham, New Hampshire, made the rejection of racism, xenophobia and anti-Muslim sentiment the themes of their annual rally.
Norberto Guiterrez, a 46-year-old immigrant from Mexico who joined families, union members and students who marched through the city, said: “We want them to hear our voices, to know that we are here and that we want a better life, with jobs”.
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Hundreds of workers are rallying and marching along San Francisco’s scenic bay front in support of immigrant and workers’ rights and to demand justice for several men shot and killed by city police.
