3:11 p.m. Second Avenue is back open.
2:48 p.m.: The final of the four protesters in down from the tarpe (a tipi-style structure).
2:20 p.m. Another of the four protesters on tarpes was removed.
Second tarpee protester down as another ladder truck moves in to assist with removing the final two. pic.twitter.com/Ehp1WkPR4r
— Graham Johnson (@GrahamKIRO7) May 7, 2018
2:09 p.m.: Firefighters continue to try to remove another protester atop a tarpes. More than two dozen officers are at the scene in addition to firefighters. Graham Johnson, who will be live with a recap and update from police on KIRO 7 at 5, is tweeting updates from the scene.
2:01 p.m. A protester was removed from atop the tarpees. He was led away in handcuffs.
1:26 p.m. The Seattle Fire Department's heavy rescue unit arrived and consulted with police about how to safely remove four protesters from the top of tarpees.
1:12 p.m.: The protesters remain atop the tarpees. No reports of additional arrests.
12:38 p.m.: Seattle Police report 10 arrests so far. Officers plan to use a ladder to make contact with four on tarpees.
12:21 p.m.: Demonstrators continue to speak on a megaphone while officers surrounded the four tarpees they erected on Second Avenue. Four people remained on top of the tarpees.
11:50 p.m.: Officers issued a dispersal order to demonstrators still at the scene.
ORIGINAL TEXT:
It took a matter of minutes for protesters to put up four tarpees (tents made of tarp material) in the middle of Seattle's Second Avenue Monday morning, in front of the local offices of J.P. Morgan Chase.
Activists targeted Chase's investment in the fossil fuels that drive climate change, including the proposed expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline in Canada, which brings diluted bitumen from the oil sands of Alberta to a port outside Vancouver, British Columbia.
"People don't know what their money is going into when they invest in these banks," said activist Janene Hampton.
A pipeline expansion would significantly increase oil tanker traffic through Haro Strait and the Strait of Juan De Fuca.
Activists are particularly worried about spills of bitumen, which is difficult to clean up.
The pipeline expansion will happen "over our dead bodies," said activist Paul Cheokten Wagners. "We will die for this."
The protest stopped traffic on Second Avenue for about 90 minutes before Seattle Police gave the order to clear the street.
They arrested ten people on the ground, but arresting four men perched atop tarpees proved more difficult when they wouldn't cooperate.
Eventually, firefighters trained in technical rescue reached them using ladder trucks and brought them safely to the street.
KIRO 7 streamed today's protest on our Facebook page, see video in the post below.
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LIVE: A protest against Chase Bank has shut down 2nd Avenue at Union Street in downtown Seattle. Watch with us and share your thoughts below. KIRO 7's Graham Johnson is following today's protest as it develops for a live report at 5 p.m. Watch with us on-air or here. or >> kiro.tv/LiveNews
Posted by KIRO 7 News on Monday, May 7, 2018
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