Immigration advocates block traffic in downtown Seattle
Try as they might, immigration-overhaul advocates who were hoping to get arrested during a demonstration Thursday in downtown Seattle just, well, couldn't.
They packed the lobby of a downtown office building for about an hour, blocking access to its elevators and refusing to let people through.
When that wasn't enough, they spilled into the street and sat down in the middle of three successive intersections along Madison Street, blocking traffic.
That, too, didn't do it.
"We tried," said Pramila Jayapal, founder and executive director of the immigrant-advocacy organization OneAmerica, which had a key role in organizing the rally. "Next time, we'll be looking at something bigger."
The Seattle Police Department, which had stationed several officers near the scene, did not immediately respond to questions about why they made no arrests. The department's media-relations unit was short-staffed Thursday, according to a media-update recording.
The rally drew some 250 demonstrators to the Jackson Federal Building on Second Avenue and coincided with similar events scheduled in Los Angeles, New York and other cities.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011912341_rally21m.html
Total Failure
Try as they might, immigration-overhaul advocates who were hoping to get arrested during a demonstration Thursday in downtown Seattle just, well, couldn't.
They packed the lobby of a downtown office building for about an hour, blocking access to its elevators and refusing to let people through.
When that wasn't enough, they spilled into the street and sat down in the middle of three successive intersections along Madison Street, blocking traffic.
That, too, didn't do it.
"We tried," said Pramila Jayapal, founder and executive director of the immigrant-advocacy organization OneAmerica, which had a key role in organizing the rally. "Next time, we'll be looking at something bigger."
The Seattle Police Department, which had stationed several officers near the scene, did not immediately respond to questions about why they made no arrests. The department's media-relations unit was short-staffed Thursday, according to a media-update recording.
The rally drew some 250 demonstrators to the Jackson Federal Building on Second Avenue and coincided with similar events scheduled in Los Angeles, New York and other cities.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011912341_rally21m.html
Total Failure