While delivering a speech at F.X. McRory’s in Pioneer Square today, Mayor Ed Murray was interrupted by a small group of protesters chanting “No internment, no youth jail!” The group was quickly escorted out of the restaurant by a man who told them, “This is my restaurant. Out.”
Outside, the protesters continued chanting and holding signs up to the windows of the restaurant. Here’s video from the event. Murray takes the stage at the 13:20 mark:
In a statement, Murray called the interruption “disrespectful.”
I believe they have raised valid points about the county’s plan for the juvenile detention center and in conversations with other opponents of the project, I have come to believe this project should be reconsidered. As a community, we can find better solutions to support black and brown youth who are negatively impacted by institutions that have long kept them oppressed. I sent a letter last month to Dow Constantine and the judges urging them to do just that. I also believe the city must follow the rule of law and has no choice but to issue permits.
The protests today interrupting the Irish American community’s honoring our culture and our history of immigration to escape oppression was disrespectful of our culture.
The project to replace the current juvie with a new “Children and Family Justice Center” in the Central District was approved by voters in 2012. (State law requires some kind of detention facility.) Since, activists have repeatedly called on Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine to abandon the project and instead fund alternatives to incarceration.
The City of Seattle recently approved the permit necessary for the project to move forward and opponents unsuccessfully appealed. Meanwhile, some Seattle City Council and King County Council members have said the project should be redesigned. In January, Murray said the project needs a “second look.”
The speech today was part of the Mayor’s Irish Week Proclamation Luncheon hosted by Irish Heritage Club. It came just two days after the mayor got his most serious election challenge yet: community organizer and vocal youth jail opponent Nikkita Oliver.
With Oliver now in the race, justice and police issues are likely to take a central role in the campaign. (A campaign Murray would rather be defined by his opposition to President Donald Trump.) The mayor should brace for more interruptions like this.
