Seattle, Washington has quickly become one of the epicenters of the fight for equality in America, despite the city’s remote and variable nature.
That’s because of a number of protesters who have taken the extreme action of seceding from the United States via the formation of an “autonomous zone”.
Now, in the same city, protesters were handed a fairly major victory by a local judge.
A judge ruled in favor of a Black Lives Matter group on Friday, banning Seattle police from using tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bang devices to disperse crowds at protests.
The ruling comes after a tense few weeks between law enforcement and protesters and legally reinforces a similar temporary ban by the city’s Mayor Jenny Durkan and Seatle Police Department Chief Carmen Best.
U.S. District Judge Richard Jones issued the two-week ban pointing to the dangers of using “indiscriminate” tactics that could harm peaceful protesters or innocent bystanders and claimed the use of force is unconstitutional.
“Because they are indiscriminate, they may even spill into bystanders’ homes or offices as they have done before,” Jones wrote in his ruling.
He also pointed out the potential for tear gas and pepper spray to induce coughing or other reactions that could also spread the coronavirus.
We can only imagine that this will serve to embolden Seattleites in the the short term, leading to almost immediate issues within the “CHAZ”.
