Hundreds of protesters supporting the Seattle Police Department gathered at midday Sunday in front of Seattle’s City Hall to show their support for law enforcement on the day before the City Council will vote whether to “defund the police.”

Local ABC affiliate KOMO news reported:

A pro-police “Back the Blue” rally is being held outside of City Hall. The Seattle Police Officers Guild helped organize the protest.

The group is calling on city council to not defund SPD.

Hundreds of people are gathered on the steps on City Hall holding signs that say “Protect Our Police” and “True to the Blue”.

…

On Monday, the council is expected to review a final set of amendments before taking a final vote on what some members say is the first step toward defunding Seattle police.

The council has already approved a series of amendments that eliminated the department’s mounted police, SWAT team and Navigation Team.

Turnout for the pro-police demonstration was large, with local news reporting a “large” rally:

A far smaller group of counter-demonstrators, many wearing the black garb of left-wing Antifa activists, also appeared:

A small group of right-wing Proud Boys made an appearance:

Seattle has been at the epicenter of left-wing efforts to “defund the police,” and was the site of the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest,” or CHOP, which took over several city blocks for several weeks in June. The occupation began after local political leaders ordered the Seattle Police Department to abandon the East Precinct, over the objections of Chief Carmen Best.

It ended only after left-wing activists led a march to Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan’s private residence, after which she ordered it dismantled.

Durkan and Gov. Jay Inslee had resisted President Donald Trump’s offer of federal law assistance in clearing the CHOP, which Durkan had described as a “Summer of Love” and a “block party.”

On Friday, the New York Times belatedly acknowledged that the CHOP had been a nightmare for local residents and small business, with bands of armed Antifa and Black Lives Matter activists commanding the streets.

There were several shootings in the CHOP, including the murder of Horace Lorenzo Anderson Jr. Police were reportedly obstructed by CHOP activists as they attempted to evacuate the wounded man.

In the aftermath of the removal of CHOP in early July, residents have faced continued violent protest from left-wing activists. Some riots have included the use of explosives.

Nevertheless, the Democrat-dominated City Council — with eight Democrats and one Socialist — approved a proposal last month to cut funding to the Seattle Police Department by 50%, and to “imagine life beyond policing.”

The council has acknowledged that the budget cannot be cut by 50% in 2020, but it proposing to cut 100 police officers from the force this year.

The final 2020 budget will be up for approval Monday.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

Photo: file