A peaceful protest at the Spokane County Courthouse on Sunday afternoon was followed by several acts of looting that prompted a heavy police presence downtown overnight.
Mayor Nadine Woodward issued an immediate curfew for downtown that lasts through 5 a.m. Monday in the downtown core.
The curfew is in effect for an area of town bordered by Division and Maple streets between Fifth to Boone avenues. Woodward said the curfew was ordered immediately “because of the civil unrest we are experiencing this evening.”
Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich has asked for the assistance of the Washington National Guard to assist the law enforcement response, his office said in a tweet late Sunday.
After an initial looting incident at the Nike store downtown, police later used rubber bullets, tear gas and flash bangs to disperse crowds congregating at Riverside Avenue and Howard Street, just east of the bus depot.
Police lobbed tear gas at protesters as a rogue group smashed windows of the Nike store Sunday evening in downtown Spokane.
A small group had broken into the store. But other protesters linked arms to try and prevent more looting. When police arrived at the chaotic scene, they used tear gas to clear the area.
As people retreated, police fired more tear gas, including canisters into Riverfront Park where crowds were gathering.
Confrontation between those who remained downtown, people that Spokane Police Chief Craig Meidl and Woodward differentiated from the peaceful protesters, escalated throughout the night. Authorities used tear gas, rubber bullets and flash bang devices to attempt to get crowds to disperse, generally in the area of Riverside Avenue and Howard Street, as well as outside Spokane City Hall.
Around 8 p.m., a water bottle was thrown at police near Riverside Avenue and Howard Street, said Logan Dechenne, of Spokane. Tear gas was deployed there and the crowd largely dispersed.
Just before 9 p.m., another round of tear gas and rubber bullets were used at the intersection.
A masked man was seen attempting to shatter the glass of a business on Washington Street with a hammer, but others in the area stopped before he could break it. Graffiti vandalism and smashed glass were seen elsewhere downtown.
Jesse Tinsley - The Spokesman-Review
Councilwoman Betsy Wilkerson, the only black member of the Spokane City Council, questioned whether the protest warranted the use of rubber bullets and tear gas. She expects council members to raise a number of issues with police department leaders on Monday.
“It seems pretty heavy handed. It’s a crowd, but it’s not like 500 people. I’m challenged by the show of force of the amount of people down there,” Wilkerson said.
Police did not assist with traffic as people marched down city streets, said Wilkerson, who participated in the protest on Sunday.
“I was concerned. Why couldn’t there have been a police presence to help with traffic? We were walking across the Monroe Street Bridge and cars were still coming down Spokane Falls Boulevard. It was crazy-making,” Wilkerson said.
In a video statement last week, Wilkerson pleaded with the community to “come together.” That did not happen on Sunday, she said.
“There’s enough blame to go around, but this is my question to the people who marched today – and I am glad they acknowledged George (Floyd) and what his family is going through – What are they going to do tomorrow? You can march, but are you going to show up, are you going to commit, are you going to make change, or are you just going to be upset today and forget about it tomorrow? That’s what has historically happened. What will be different?”
The mayor commended those who had engaged in peaceful protest and said Spokane County Sheriff’s deputies and Spokane Police officers engaged in “patience,” but that the events of Sunday evening “not Spokane.”
“These are people who stayed behind or are here only to cause trouble,” Woodward said. “We are seeing our downtown businesses’ windows broken, we are seeing looting at several businesses, and we are seeing individuals who refuse police orders to disperse.”
Meidl said some police officers had objects thrown at them and were assaulted, but did not provide details.
After a rally at the courthouse ended, a group of about 500 people marched through downtown for about and hour and a half and police “tried to facilitate that as best we could,” Meidl said. But the “march turned into breaking into multiple buildings, looting the buildings,” he said.
“It continues to be an evolving situation,” Meidl said, who urged people to stay away from downtown.
The unrest follows a day of peaceful protests that drew thousands of people. They marched through downtown Spokane on Sunday in a show of anger, strength and unity following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis last week.
Sunday night’s incident will have an effect on city and county operations Monday. The Spokane County Courthouse campus, the site the peaceful protest Sunday afternoon, will be closed Monday, the county announced in a news release late Sunday. Spokane Transit Authority coaches also will delay the start of their service day until 6:30 a.m. due to the curfew.
This story is developing.
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