7 arrested after Poor People's Campaign protest blocks traffic in downtown Seattle

SEATTLE — Officers with the Seattle Police Department arrested seven protesters, five women and two men, for refusing to leave the intersection at 6th and Pike in downtown Seattle during a protest for the 'Poor People's Campaign' on Saturday.

Saturday's protest in Seattle was in accordance with the Poor People's Campaign National March in Washington, D.C.

According to a statement on the Poor People's Campaign website, the protests on Saturday were because:

"In the face of systemic racism, systemic poverty, ecological devastation, the war economy/militarism, and the distorted moral narrative of religious nationalism — we must engage in mass nonviolent moral direct action. We must declare that we won’t be silent anymore about the war on the poor!"

Seattle police officers originally responded to reports of demonstrators blocking the intersection of 6th and Pike around 4:30 p.m. Saturday:

Responding officers quickly issued a lawful order for protesters who were blocking the street to disperse:

Video from KIRO 7's Ranji Sinha shows the protesters blocking the street:

Video from KIRO 7's Ranji Sinha shows police giving verbal warnings to protesters around 6:00 p.m.:

A short time later, SPD officers began arresting protesters:

By 6:30 p.m. police had arrested seven protesters in total and the street was reopened to traffic:

KIRO 7 will continue to update this story as more information becomes available.

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