As Activists Occupy Seattle’s Capitol Hill, City Bans Tear Gas, Expels Cop Union

In Seattle, the fight to demilitarize and defund the police continues as the King County Labor Council voted to expel the Seattle police union Wednesday, following weeks of protest.

Seattle police sparked outrage for responding to massive protests against police brutality by using pepper spray, tear gas and flashbangs on demonstrators and reporters.

Activists then formed an autonomous zone in response to the police department’s abandonment of a precinct building.

On Wednesday, President Trump threatened to send troops into Seattle to dismantle the community-run Capitol Hill Occupied Protest, which extends over several city blocks.

Seattle socialist Councilmember Kshama Sawant calls the threat of military intervention “absolutely horrific” and says it “shows that Donald Trump is a coward and movements work.”

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