SEATTLE, Wash. (NBC) – After nearly two weeks of violent clashes between federal agents and protesters in Portland, another team of federal authorities is now on standby in Seattle where the situation has escalated
Violent clashes between Seattle police and protesters lit up the night sky over the weekend with 59 officers injured and 47 people arrested as police declared a riot due to the damage.
It was an uprising in solidarity with neighboring Portland where protesters have been clashing with federal officers sent by the Trump administration to put an end to the violence.
A court order sought by the state’s attorney general to stop federal agents from illegally arresting people during protests was denied. In response to the decision, President Trump tweeted in part… the “protesters” are actually anarchists who hate our country. Something officials say is true for a small group of people.
A group of military veterans backed the protestors over the weekend, joining the so-called “wall of Moms” demonstrating at the federal courthouse in Portland
Shows of support for the protesters in Portland are now stretching across the country.
In Los Angeles, hundreds of demonstrators clashed with officers in front of the federal courthouse downtown.
In Louisville, opposing armed militia groups faced off at a demonstration. Three people wounded when someone in their group’s gun discharged.
In Austin, a protester at a demonstration in the state’s capitol was killed. The man, 28-year-old Garrett Foster who was armed with a rifle, was shot by someone in a vehicle that had driven through the crowd.
Federal agents are already in Kansas City and Chicago. The president vowed to send in more to other cities facing unrest including Albuquerque, New Mexico, and possibly New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and Baltimore.
In Seattle, the mayor, the police chief, the governor all voiced opposition to the arrival of federal agents. They’re concerned it would inflame tensions.
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