Protesters disrupt Seattle City Council meeting demanding housing help for refugees

SEATTLE — A group of protesters disrupted a Seattle City Council meeting Tuesday afternoon demanding the city fund temporary housing for refugees who are once again facing eviction.

The city of Seattle previously paid for just under a month of housing for the refugees from Latin America, who have bounced around from a church in Tukwila to hotels in south King County for the last few months. A group marched on the steps of Seattle City Hall Tuesday and into the Council Chambers chanting and requesting the city use police funding for their housing needs.

Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson started the meeting saying the city has an obligation to taxpayers to provide housing for people in need in Seattle, like the homeless along Third Avenue and in the Chinatown-International District and in Ballard. She said discussions about refugee funding need to happen at the county and state level because there are such limited resources here.

The commotion forced City Council members to leave the Chambers and take a recess. Seattle police arrived on scene at about 2:55 p.m., and spoke with some protesters in the Chambers as refugee families waited outside. The Council eventually resumed their proceedings.

Seattle police said they arrested six people after they were warned and refused to stop. Officers arrested three men and three women for criminal trespassing. One of the men was also charged with obstruction. Police said all six people were booked into the King County Jail.

Police also noted that many others in the chambers left without any issues.

When the meeting resumed, City Councilmember Cathy Moore addressed those who caused the disturbance saying she felt "physically threatened."

I physically feel threatened," Moore said, "We are shutting down the operations of our democracy because of a mob action and it is not to be tolerated.

Moore also said, “I want the record to be clear. I physically feel threatened. I don’t know about my colleagues. The business of this council has been unnecessarily interrupted. It continues to be interrupted. It is not appropriate, and this action needs to be recognized. We need to make sure this does not happen going forward. We are shutting down the operations of our democracy because of a mob action, and it is not to be tolerated.”

A spokesperson for the city of Seattle told KOMO News the disturbance was caused by an unknown group of protesters, not the refugee families who they have been working with to provide shelter.

Protesters were not allowed back into the Chambers and yelled at Council members and banged on the windows. The protesters left shortly after security approached them.

One refugee said they were told by their supporters that Seattle is the place where they (migrants) will be heard, where people will listen and help. Genesis, a refugee from Venezuela, spoke to KOMO News' Paul Rivera in Spanish.

Genesis stated she understood this protest wasn’t the most correct thing to do but said there were kids with them, so that hastened their action. They do not know what will happen next once their hotel stay is up Wednesday morning. She herself is a mother.

Migrants do not want to go back to the camp located on Riverton Park United Methodist Church grounds. They have cited inhumane conditions there in the past.

This comes as local municipalities, like Tukwila, are diving into city resources to help refugees. The city of Tukwila announced Tuesday it will install and fund a temporary large tent at the Riverton Park United Methodist Church for the refugees. The 3,030 square-foot heated tent can accommodate up to 100 people and is aimed at improving the health and safety conditions of the people staying there.

“The large centralized tent provided by the city is a temporary measure – another band-aid solution – aimed at assisting asylees who are coming to our community looking for help,” said Mayor Tom McLeod. “We’re trying to do the best we can with the limited resources available to us as a small city. But more needs to be done at the state and federal levels because this ongoing humanitarian crisis isn’t going away.”

The tent is expected to be ready to use by the end of the week.

Bolerjack said, “I hope it’s a temporary solution because the state and other municipalities should be stepping up and helping these folks, but for now, we’re doing our best to give them a warm, safe place.”

In speaking with KOMO News on Tuesday, the pastor said the refugees are welcomed at the border, and then they get nothing when they are here, again saying the federal government and state need to step up.

In the meantime, the refugees told KOMO News they have moved back to the Quality Inn in Kent, although it's unclear who is funding that stay. They told KOMO they will have to check out on Wednesday morning.