information from the City of Seattle
After meeting with community leaders today, Mayor Jenny A. Durkan and Chief Carmen Best announced that the citywide curfew will end effective immediately. The curfew was originally recommended by the Seattle Police Department as a way to aid in crowd control and preserve public safety after violence on Saturday. However, the Mayor and Chief chose to rescind the curfew following feedback from community leaders and protestors who wanted to ensure no peaceful individuals who were demonstrating were arrested. The Seattle Police Department did not make a single arrest for violation of the curfew.
“These last few days have been deeply trying, and have caused a level of sadness, anger, and frustration from the community that makes crystal clear: At the City, we can work together to make changes,” said Mayor Durkan. “On Saturday, we first implemented the curfew as a tool to help the Seattle Police Department disperse peaceful crowds, keep vulnerable people in their homes, and preserve public health and safety. However, community leaders made it clear that wanted to ensure peaceful demonstrations could still occur and ensure there was no disruption for our workers, and small business owners. Throughout the day, we have seen peaceful demonstrations, and Chief Best believes we can balance public safety and ensure peaceful protests can continue without a curfew. Effective immediately, the curfew is no longer in effect in the City of Seattle. For those who are demonstrating, please keep making your voices heard peacefully.”
The City of Seattle will send a notice of the terminated curfew via Alert Seattle, which sends notifications directly to residents’ mobile phones. The City encourages all residents to sign up for Alert Seattle to receive notifications directly to their mobile device. The City is also notifying residents via social media, outreach to stakeholders, and the press.
All residents currently out should keep in mind impacts to roads and transit service could make it more difficult to get home. The City encourages residents to follow @kcmetrobus, @SoundTransit, @SDOTtraffic, and @wsdot_traffic on Twitter for updates on transit service and road closures. King County Metro and Sound Transit are both operating at reduced services because of COVID-19, so residents should check updated schedules regularly.
