A Biden stan watches on as cops follow a group of antifascists away from the Seattle Center. I didnt think anything could make me miss the Rep, but last nights tour though the Seattle Center made me want to sit for a five-hour production of A Raisin in the Sun.
A Biden stan looked on as cops followed a group of antifascists away from the Seattle Center. I didn't think anything could make me miss the Rep, but last night's tour though the Seattle Center made me want to sit for a five-hour production of A Raisin in the Sun. RS

While most of Seattle watched Jon Bon Jovi cover the Beatles during Joe Biden's 90-minute inaugural telecast, a group of about 150 protesters wearing black bloc burned an American flag in front of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office downtown as part of a protest calling for the abolition of the agency.

A protester who gave their name as Comrade Matty said the flag-burning on Biden's Inauguration Day "shows that no matter who is in power we still stand for the same principles."

Data for Progress founder Sean McElwee coined the term and the hashtag #AbolishIce, but many in the crowd didn't appear too tapped into the principles advertised by progressive think tanks. In fact, political opinion varied wildly in the group.

Six random protesters simply said "no" when asked if they were excited about the incoming Biden administration. One said, "No—it's the same bullshit, just a different person."

Comrade K, who's a regular at protests, said, "I don't hate him with the fire of 1,000 suns, but I don't think it's going to get any better."

A protester who gave her name as Em said she was excited for Trump to get out, and she hopes a new leader will inspire hope in others. She said she benefited greatly from Obamacare, and she'd lost a couple friends to QAnon, so she's generally pleased with the transfer.

Another protester called the election a fraud, and said that it brought him no pleasure to report that Donald Trump had actually won. This protester claimed that "if you look at the raw numbers there was no way 150 million people voted." He also mentioned something about alleged voting irregularities in Pennsylvania. Both of those claims, such as they are, are false. Over 159 million people voted in the election, and no significant cases of fraud were revealed after multiple lawsuits.

In any event, after the flag burning the group embarked on what felt like a sight-seeing tour of Seattle. The antifascists first hit up an AmazonGo at 5th and Marion, with some people smashing parking meters and throwing sandwich boards around along the way. The cops moved in to make an arrest for suspected property damage shortly thereafter. Then protesters tried to lose the cops in Freeway Park, where they split up and eventually reconvened at Occidental Park for a rest.

Schultz wept.
Schultz wept. RS

Unsatisfied with such a short evening, the protesters pushed back dinner and went back out for a much longer game of cat and mouse. The group marched to Pike Place Market, where they overturned a bunch of trash cans and broke windows at the so-called "original Starbucks" (the original Starbucks aCkTuAlLy first opened on Western Ave).

Cops later arrested a man on suspicion of burglary and property damage. During that arrest, video shows one officer threatening to tase the protester for allegedly resisting as two other cops hold him down. The crackle of a taser is audible in the video, but the cop does not deploy the weapon.

An SPD spokesperson said, "Per training, officers frequently conduct what is called a 'spark test.' Officers will give a subject a verbal warning that if they do not comply, they will be tased. Officers will then conduct a spark test, which is a deescalation tool used to gain compliance without having to use force, such as having to actually deploy the taser."

After the smashy-smashy at Starbucks, the group meandered down to Bezos's balls (which a line of bike cops protected), then to an AmazonGo in South Lake Union (which a line of bike cops protected), then down to KOMO Plaza (which a line of bike cops protected), then to the Space Needle at the Seattle Center, and then all the way back to Occidental Park. If the protesters had marched to the Fremont Troll, they would have had a pretty decent walking tour on their hands.

The cops are in black bloc too. Its something people dont really talk about enough.
The cops wear black bloc, too. It's something people don't really talk about enough. RS

Though the march was ostensibly about abolishing ICE, the group twice passed by the Henry M. Jackson Federal Building without going near the entrance. Inside, ICE agents armed with less-lethal and absolutely lethal weapons stood ready.

Not yet abolished. But after the march last night, I think were one step closer.
Not yet abolished. But after the march last night, I think we're one step closer. RS