After Violence, Seattle Mayor Says Police to Return to Precinct

After late-night shootings inside a protest zone in Seattle left a 19-year-old dead and injured others over the weekend, Mayor Jenny Durkan said Monday that the police department would return to a precinct building they vacated earlier this month.

The roughly six-block protest zone -- known as Capitol Hill Organized Protest, or CHOP -- has attracted worldwide media attention and barbs from President Donald Trump since police departed on June 8, following days of escalating clashes with demonstrators after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

In a speech that outlined steps her administration is taking to respond to weeks of demonstrations throughout the city over police violence and racism, the mayor said the violence was unacceptable to residents and businesses in the area. Many store owners are trying to reopen after months of being shut because of the coronavirus.

“It’s time for people to go home,” Durkan said. “We can still accommodate people who want to protest peacefully to come there and gather. But the impacts on the businesses and residents and community are now too much.”