The emergent experiment in police-free living turned into an area of increasing lawlessness, with two people killed in four shootings, and a liberal city government that had been inclined to let the protesters have their say increasingly found itself facing pressure to clear them away.
Early Wednesday morning, after weeks of hesitation, police officers in riot gear swiftly moved in to drive the protesters off the streets and bulldoze their barricades, ending one of the most visible protests that broke out across the country in response to the death of George Floyd in the custody of the Minneapolis police more than a month ago.
“The deteriorating conditions and repeated gun violence required us to immediately address public safety concerns,” Mayor Durkan said. “It was clear that many individuals would not leave, and that the impacts to the community could not be reduced, and public safety could not be improved, until they did leave.”
Chief Best said it even more succinctly earlier in the day: “Enough is enough.”
After the arrests, traffic began moving through the streets once again, and city workers in yellow and orange vests hauled out spray-painted barricades and artwork. Left behind were some tents, and a few signs: “R.I.P.E. Precinct,” one of them read. “All lives don’t matter until Black lives matter,” said another.
