(The Center Square) – Pro-Palestine rallies have occurred in downtown Seattle for the last few weekends, but despite complications they may cause with traffic, the protests fall under First Amendment rights, according to city officials.
Since the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas on Israel that claimed the lives of some 1,200 people and resulted in more than 200 people being taken hostage and Israel’s retaliation in Gaza, hundreds of Seattleites have gathered in the downtown area to call for a ceasefire and chanted, “Free Palestine!”
The Center Square reached out to Seattle officials for information regarding pro-Palestine rallies being allowed in the city. The Department of Transportation responded, saying the protests are considered First Amendment-protected activities.
“The [Office of Economic Development] does issue permits, but with First Amendment rights, they can do this with or without a permit and they don’t always specify a route,” the Seattle Department of Transportation said to The Center Square in an email.
Under the city’s rules for free speech events, these events have to be a “solely expressive activity, such as march, rally, demonstration, or other activity.” This does not include non-expressive or commercial activity such as commercial food or sales.
Seattle Police Officers are present at these events, but do not help direct traffic due to the lack of knowledge in protestors’ route.
“These events are handled with Seattle Police Department officers supporting the demonstration to keep everybody safe and not with the temporary traffic control,” the Seattle Department of Transportation explained.
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell and members of the city council recently proposed a memorandum of understanding with the Seattle Police Officers Guild that would seek to improve office availability citywide through a special events staffing system.
The system would provide any officers who volunteer to work special events – such as parades, major sports games, and rallies – with a $225 per shift premium while allowing any unfilled positions to be staffed by employees that are not police officers, such as parking enforcement officers.
The Center Square reached out to the Seattle Office of Economic Development to inquire if the recent pro-Palestine marches were permitted but didn’tt receive a response by the time of this publication.
