Prosecutors filed misdemeanor charges against six people involved in a protest that shutdown I-5 in downtown Seattle for hours in January.
FILE – Protesters block all lanes of northbound I-5 near Pine Street in downtown Seattle on Jan. 6, 2024. for 12 of the protesters. The KCPAO said Friday that six of the protesters were charged, and “five additional individuals are still being investigated.”
Five of the protesters were charged with second-degree criminal trespass and disorderly conduct in connection with the Jan. 6 protest. One person was only charged with disorderly conduct, according to the KCPAO.The prosecuting attorney’s office said one case was declined because “evidence was insufficient to prove charges against the specific defendant,” adding that the submitted evidence “did not indicate the person in this case was actively on Interstate 5.
None of the protesters on Jan. 6 were arrested by police. The KCPAO said the investigators has to identify the people later “based on admissible evidence, which creates a different legal scenario compared to when someone is booked and identified and fingerprinted the same day.”that detectives reviewed hundreds of hours of social media and video footage since the Jan. 6 protest that disrupted the Saturday afternoon commute through downtown.
The KCPAO said the cases were referred by investigators as misdemeanors and not felonies, adding there was “no applicable felony charge after the police investigation that was legally justified.” However, the KCPAO said felony charges could be referred later if police gather evidence for a felony crime.
Reopening northbound I-5 was further delayed when the protesters finally walked off I-5 and left about a dozen parked cars behind. Law enforcement had to bring in bomb-sniffing dogs before towing the vehicles. In addition, eight individuals chained themselves together in what's known as a "sleeping dragon device," which the WSP said is designed to hinder responders as they require safe extraction that can only be done in a controlled environment and not during an active protest.
Disorderly Conduct I-5 Shutdown KCPAO Misdemeanor Charges Pro-Palestinian Protesters Seattle Washington State Patrol
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