The Scale of Total Destroy On May 30th In Seattle

By 5pm on May 30th 2020, downtown Seattle was uncontrollable and the police had put a curfew in effect. Demonstrators besieged to the two nearest police precinct, and thousands flooded I-5. Over the next week 400 national guard members would pour into the city, not to mention the presumably hundreds of state troopers, sheriffs offices, feds, and local departments dying to crack some heads and kidnap people after the “mutual aid” request from Seattle.

What follows is an extremely small scope analysis of a few documents released by the state: two federal indictments in the Western District of Washington. Both complaints were written by ATF special agents, and the cases were investigated by SPD detectives, FBI special agents, and ATF special agents. The first complaint lists six SPD vehicles that were present downtown and burned:

1: A 2018 Ford Transit Connect Video unit van for transportation, recording videos, and download surveillance video, completely destroyed by fire
2: A 2006 Dodge Caravan Video unit van for same purposes, interior and engine compartment destroyed by fire
3: A A 2009 Chevrolet Express Van assigned to the South Precinct for equipment and officers, completely destroyed by fire
4: A 2016 Ford explorer patrol car, completely destroyed by fire
5: A 2017 Ford explorer patrol car, completely destroyed by fire
6: A 2016 Ford explorer patrol car (its fate goes unmentioned, assumed destroyed by fire)

The complaints reveal that vehicle 4, and another patrol car (either 5 or 6) were each carrying three officers downtown, and five of them brought their department issued rifles. In vehicle 4, the firearm lockers could only carry two rifles, and the third was later taken from the trunk. Details about the securing of vehicle 5’s firearms are not provided, but both were later taken from the trunk. By 5 pm, all six vehicles were aflame. Further missing equipment is listed as “video recording equipment, ballistic helmets, uniforms, emergency medical equipment, fire extinguishers, and five firearms”. Three of these firearms are listed in the complaint as recovered, while a rifle and pistol are still missing. It is also notable that three photo unit officers left their patrol car to take refuge in the nearby Nordstrom. Both of these complaints were made by detectives reviewing surveillance the police had taken on May 30th, and photos and video posted to social media. In one case, someone posted a picture of themselves in front of a burning patrol car, and an anonymous tipster provided the police with both the name and photo of the subject. This person was in decent bloc, although much of their upper face was visible, and they were further identified by clothing, a backpack, and shoes that they were wearing at the time and were found in their room during a search warrant. In the other case, the subject and his wife were wearing matching red tracksuits and seen on multiple videos. He was further identified by rings that he was wearing during a past arrest. Both subjects have been arrested and charged.

The full extent of total destroy on May 30th will never be known. Undoubtedly, insurers, detectives, and all the goons of the state have been working to produce a list of damages for a payout. This report may have already been completed, but will be incomplete and probably never publicly available. The victory won that day by the youth, and it was the youth who fought back the police, is impossible to quantify on a single line of an expense report. Even this small analysis is lacking . Please check out other anarchist’s writing and analysis on the day from other platforms such as Puget Sound Anarchists and Its Going Down.

-An Anonymous Contributor