SEATTLE— Washington State Patrol troopers arrested nine people participating in a protest in which vehicles blocked traffic on Interstate 5 through Seattle Friday, according to people at the scene and the State Patrol.
Nine vehicles were being impounded, patrol spokesperson Trooper Rick Johnson wrote on Twitter at about 11:15 a.m. Johnson told The Seattle Times he didn’t know details of the reasons for the arrests, other than that the group was illegally blocking the freeway, and he didn’t know whether the drivers would be cited and released or booked into jail.
The protest group, known as the Morning March, marches nearly every weekday. Previously, they have stopped traffic on the Ballard Bridge and on Highway 99 in Seattle.
They have called on Mayor Jenny Durkan to resign and for the city to reallocate funding for Seattle police to Black organizations, as well as to drop charges against protesters and close the juvenile detention center.
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