Peaceful protests held in Capitol Hill, downtown Seattle

SEATTLE — There was a third night of protests in downtown Seattle over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

A peaceful demonstration began at Westlake Park in the afternoon before protesters began moving south down 2nd Avenue away from Pine Street.

The protest then moved toward City Hall, where crowds continued to grow. Protesters shouted, “hands up, don’t shoot” in front of a line of Seattle police officers at 4th Avenue and Cherry Street.

At around 4:20 p.m., flash bangs were set off in downtown Seattle but the situation did not escalate beyond that.

Protesters eventually moved to Capitol Hill and gathered in the street. Officers set up several barricades along Pine Street to control the groups from moving.

The group was originally split into two groups at different ends of the barricade set up by officers with the East Precinct, but eventually joined one another and starting moving down Pike Street toward downtown around 7 p.m.

Before 11 p.m., police ordered the crowds to leave the area.

A public safety zone was set up around Westlake Park, closing the area to vehicle traffic and demonstrators continued to move back to the downtown area.

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