Nearly 1,000 demonstrators marched from downtown Seattle to Safeco Field on Saturday evening to engage in a peaceful protest against police brutality.
“It’s ridiculous that it upsets people that I’m asking you to treat a black person like you would a white person. If that upsets you, why?” activist Miles Partman told the crowd.
The protest, which began around 6 p.m. at Westlake Park, was the first Black Lives Matter protest in Seattle since the deaths of Tyre King in Ohio, Terence Crutcher in Oklahoma and Keith Lamont Scott in North Carolina, three unarmed black men who were fatally shot by police in one week.
Partman opened in Westlake Park with a chant of “Whose lives matter? Black lives matter!” before asking demonstrators to follow the lead of San Francisco 49ers backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick by kneeling as the National Anthem played over the speakers.
Partman then offered his microphone to numerous people in the crowd, giving priority to people of color to speak about their experiences.
“We’re going to make every man, woman, boy and girl successful in this life. We shouldn’t have to go through this type of torment. We shouldn’t have to go through this type of torture. Torture is illegal in the United States and yet still, they’re torturing us … something is wrong so we’re going to go and we’re going to uproot it and we’re going to multiply,” one woman said.
The protesters then stopped briefly to form a circle at the intersection of 4th and Pine, then made their way one-and-a-half miles to Safeco Field before returning Westlake and ending the protest slightly before 11 p.m.
The protest was organized by the Black Liberation Front — previously known as Justice for Mike Brown – Seattle. The group also is organizing the third Black Lives Matter Friday protest at 1 p.m. Nov. 25 at Westlake Park.
I find it really really offensive reporters and journalists use the word “peaceful” about a march against racist murder, but never use the same word to describe police activity beyond the normal racism, terrorism, and violence. For example, you’ll NEVER hear a news story about a policeman who “peacefully” helped an old lady across the street. Does the author of this piece think that when black people get together, they act violently? Is she surprised that black people can “behave”? I’d like her to respond. Black Lives Matter doesn’t need non-black people telling them how to properly behave when the cops murder them. The fact that she uses that same word “peaceful” as the corporate media and that she’s studied journalism tells me her use of the word is not neutral.