Capitol Hill Pride announced it has filed an Office of Police Accountability (OPA) complaint against the Seattle Police Department, after the Police Outreach and Engagement Team (POET) and uniformed officers allegedly abandoned their traffic control duties during the “John Lewis Lives On” day of action event near Seattle Central College on July 17. 

At approximately 6:30pm, the organization reports that protestors were staging a sit-in on Broadway Ave. when police began to leave the area with no precautions for the protestors being left behind.

Charlette LeFevre, Director of Capitol Hill Pride, tells the SGN that “At the end of the day, its about safety and doing everything we can.” 

With over 20 years of experience in community events and safety, LeFevre says there was no justifiable reason for the officers present to suddenly ditch the event as they did. The only verbal warning she and others received came from one SPD officer who stated hurriedly and with no explanation: “I have to take care of my officers.” 

LeFevre reports calling the SPD that morning requesting the Seattle Department of Transportation be present for traffic control backup in case SPD officers were needed elsewhere. 
She points out that “there is a municipal code that actually states the SPD is required to provide traffic control, even for anti-police marches.”

Activists that day were forced to move orange barricades and signs from a nearby construction site to protect themselves, with LeFevre even parking her car in the middle of the street to block oncoming traffic. 

This most recent instance follows in a long line of problematic behavior from the SPD. On May 24th, the SGN covered the violent police crackdown against peaceful counter-protesters during the “Save the Children” event run by Spokane-based, anti-LGBT organization MayDay USA at Cal Anderson Park.  
Capitol Hill Pride and LeFevre were also present during that event. She shared her disgust to the SGN, explaining that after the way people were treated by SPD, mentioning once she saw a POET officer arrest someone in the crowd, she had lost all faith in the department’s ability to handle these situations competently. “There is a good chance we will be filing an additional OPA complaint in the near future” she affirms.    

The SGN has reached out to the SPD for comment about this event and the group’s OPA filing, but did not receive an immediate reply.