An anti-police protest in Seattle featured 60 to 70 self-described anarchists, most looking to be in their 20s, and about 30 police officers on bicycles with an additional five on horse patrol, says the Seattle Times. The protest was advertised on the Internet and on leaflets as being part of an “International Day Against Police Brutality,” with Seattle highlighted as “what police violence looks like firsthand multiple times this past year” — singling out the fatal shooting of woodcarver John Williams by Seattle police Officer Ian Birk last summer.
The demonstrators, many dressed anarchist style in black jeans and black hoodies with black bandannas covering their faces, shouted slogans such as, “Cops, pigs, murderers!” and kicked over a garbage can or two. The police used their bikes to herd the anarchists out of the street and onto the sidewalk. “A lot of people see anarchists as angry and aggressive people,” said one protester. “That’s definitely not true. We’re not about violence.”