May Day protests in Seattle quickly turned violent and led to eight arrests yesterday. One man was arrested for smashing a glass bottle on the face shield of a Seattle PD officer. Another officer was reportedly hit with a bottle of urine. Protesters also turned on members of the media. A KING5 photojournalist was hit in the face with a wooden pole. He continued to work with blood streaming down his face.
A group of anarchists in black, their faces covered, went on a spree of property destruction that authorities estimate will cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair. They vandalized storefronts seemingly at random. Niketown, American Apparel, Taphouse Grill, Wells Fargo, and Fidelity Investments had windows smashed and/or sprayed with graffiti. Shopper’s cars were also a target. One man exited Niketown only to find his windows had been smashed and his tires slashed. Other shoppers caught in the maelstrom were shocked by what they witnessed:
Ray Ward recounted the moments of panic when protestors started shattering the windows of the Wells Fargo Bank branch he was in. “Sledgehammers,” he said incredulously. “They were throwing short-handled sledgehammers through the broken windows at the tellers.
Vandals also attacked the old federal courthouse building. Video of the attack shows several men using flag poles to break windows. Someone reportedly set a fire near one of the entrances, but it was put out before it spread inside.
The vandalism in Seattle was not an isolated incident. San Francisco’s Mission district experienced a similar spree of vandalism yesterday.
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