by Marcus Harrison Green
At an event called to condemn Hate Speech, a group of organizers aligned against the building of King County youth detention center decided to practice their right to free speech.
Demonstrators with the No New Youth Jail Coalition, an assembly of local anti-racist and prison abolitionist groups, interrupted speeches Monday morning by both King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray Monday at a press conference at the Seattle Center Pavilion.ย
The demonstrators took the opportunity, one of 2016โs last events both Murray and Constantine would publicly attend, to vocally oppose King Countyโs plans to replace the current Youth Services Center, with the new Children and Family Justice Center, which protestors label a โyouth jail.โ Their hope was to put pressure on Constantine and Murray to not go forward with a master land use permit, the last hurdle to clear in the Centerโs construction.
Both the County Executive and Mayor were there to join local elected officials, heads of social justice organizations and labor unions to โDeclare Washington State a Hate Free State.โ
The event, convened by former 37th District State Senator and Congresswoman-elect Pramila Jayapal, was to focus on the recent uptick in hate crimes nationally since the election of Donald J Trump, as well as express solidarity with and support for local Muslim communities victimized by such crimes, includingย the recent vandalism of a Redmond Mosque.
โWe respect women, we value black lives, value those of all faiths, and fight for immigrants,โ Jayapal said in remarks just prior to Executive Constantine taking the stage for what would end up being extremely brief remarks.
While several other city and state officials spoke, including Governor Jay Inslee, Constantine and Murray were targeted by the No New Youth Jail Coalition because of their involvement with the new detention facility.
In order to go forward with the facilityโs construction, the City of Seattle is required to grant the County a special Master Land Use permit.ย The Cityโs department of Construction and Inspections is scheduled to decide whether to issue the permit this Thursday, timing the Coalition says is suspicious given that it could have been issued months ago.
ย โWe know what this was about in terms of them deciding on it during the holidays; Boeing did something similar with its tax breaks. They hope to pass this through under the cover of darkness while everyone is focused on Christmas,โ said Saara Tekola, one of the demonstrators.
Tekola said it was critical to be vocal and disruptive around the issues so they would not be overshadowed by the holidays, which is why they demonstrated at the event.
Taking the podium after Jayapal, Constantine got out a few words before around two dozen demonstrators all wearing black โ began chanting: โHate Free State for Hate Free Kidsโ and โFree Our Kids – Do it Nowโ.
Constantine initially told the demonstrators to โgo aheadโ but, when it became apparent he was not going to be allowed to speak, he told the audience he would โstep outside to talkโ to the demonstrators to allow the event to continue as scheduled. Constantine departed the stage with protestors following as Governor Inslee, Mayor Murray, and others on the stage looked on bewildered.
Outside the Pavillion, Constantine met with protestors in a somewhat contentious exchange that served as a highlight reel ofย the enduring differences between King County and the No New Youth Jail Coalition since voters approved a tax levy to fund the Center in 2012.
โHow can you make it a hate free zone when youโre locking up Black and Brown kids? We feel your language has been disingenuous,โ said a protestor named Rose, confronting Constantine.ย
Black and Hispanic children, who make up around 12 percent of the overall population in King County, account for 50 percent of the countyโs incarcerated population.ย
Constantine stated that the County is still attempting to reduce disproportionality, but noted that no County has been able to do so while reducing overall numbers of juveniles in prison.ย The average number of incarnated youth in King County has decreased from more than 100 in the past decade to around 50 or fewer on a given night.
To that, Bana Abera, another member of the coalition, noted that only 27 children were currently at the Centerโs detention and questioned the decision to spend $210 million dollars on a complex that houses a detention centerย when there were alternatives, such as community-led efforts around the country.
โI absolutely agree that we should have alternatives,โ said Constantine.
After a few exchanges, primarily characterized by talking over each other, Constantine was asked if he could reflect on what had been said by the members of the Coalition.
He responded: โYouโre saying no one under the age of 18 should be incarcerated for any reason. I donโt agree with that.โ
Coalition members, then mentioned data that showed imprisoned youth are more likely to be re-incarcerated, and to commit homicide,ย violent crime, and drug offenses. They also mentioned that education should be a central focus of any public expenditure as opposed to further incarceration.
The County has maintained the current Family Justice Center, which would be replaced by the New Family Justice Center, is dilapidated and keeping youth locked up would be inhumane. The Coalitionโs counterpoint has been that the practice of locking up youth is inhumane in itself.
After additional exchanges, it appeared evident an impasse had been reached, and one of the members suggested a meeting be set up to talk farther, actually suggesting the Emerald attempt to broker it. Constantine agreed and stepped back into the Pavilion to attempt to give his previously aborted speech.
โHonestly, I donโt have a lot of faith in politicians,โ said Bypolor Cherub, a coalition member, who made it clear he was speaking for himself.
โItโs up to us as people to force them into a corner and pressure them into doing the right thing. Thatโs what today was about. We need to look at whatโs wrong with a system that throws people in jail,โ he said.
While Constantine had been talking to demonstrators outside, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray didnโt fare much better than his counterpart at King County Council.
Chants of โHate Free State means Cage Free Kidsโ rained down as he took the tact of attempting to talk over them.
โThis is not a trump rally,โ he said, raising his voice in an unsuccessful attempt to drown out the voices of protestors.
One protestor, Michael Moynihan, a vocal leader in the No New Youth Jail movement, stood directly in front of Murray, just below the podium and shouted loudly:
โChildren are being imprisoned!โ
Murray ceded the floor to Moynihan for a couple of minutes before continuing with his speech, expressing his frustration with the protests by saying, โWe are mostly on the same side. If we canโt come together, we canโt change the nation.โย The crowd response was mixed, with some shouts of โlet him speakโ along with chants of โdeny the permit.โ
After brief remarks by Superintendent of Public Instruction-elect Chris Rekydal, Congresswoman-elect Jayapal came to the podium to appeal to protesters as a fellow organizer, asking them permission for County Executive Dow Constantine to now speak.
โIf he addresses our issues,โ shouted a demonstrator to cheers.
Fresh from meeting with protestors outside, Constantine stepped back to the podium and began by saying โOur country was founded on slaveryโฆโ
โJails are slavery!โ came a retort from the crowed, as chants kicked back up while cries of โlet him speakโ again met the chants.
Clearly exasperated, Constantine stepped away from the podium, with some in attendance patting him on the back as he exited to speak with local media.
โPeople have legitimate concerns about youth detention,โ Constantine told the Emerald. โWe would like to reach a point in our nation where we donโt have to incarcerate any children. And we need to do that by first asking why theyโre there.โ
While he spoke, a clearly agitated Murray passed by, not taking questions from the mini-press assembly.
Constantine pointed to initiatives the county has already made including a Restorative Justice pilot program, which sees youth offenders engage in active dialogue and agreed-upon retributive actions with victims rather than incarceration.
He also pointed to the recently passed Best Start For Kids Levy that, amongst other things, provides additional funding for early learning.ย โWe know those are the most important years of development, and additionally helps reduce the potential for a child to be incarcerated.โ
While Constantine again re-iterated his willingness to meet to discuss the matters further with the Coalition, he noted this was a conversation that had been going on for the past 4 years, since the Family and Justice Center was approved by voters in 2012.
The 4 years has seen a fierce back and forth between both county and city officials, and organizers who have sustained protest over that time. Protests which have resulted in the County declaring they would no longer prosecute for status offenses (crimes unique to juveniles such as truancy violations), a resolution from the City of Seattle setting a goal of Zero Youth Detention, and $500,000 allocated to the group Ending the Prison Industrial Complex to parcel out to groups providing alternatives to incarceration.
However, the Center, scheduled to break groundย in 2017 remains at the forefront of the protest.ย Protestors see this week as critical, as the approval of the master land use permit is the last step towards that construction.
โWe have to keep pressure on [Mayor] Murray and [Executive] Dow [Constantine] to deny this permit. Our kids need community. They need solutions. We have them here in our city,โ said a protestor named Rose, who then named the 12 organizations EPIC has funded with the $500,000.
โToday just shows the blatant hypocrisy of our elected officials,โ said Bana Abera. โHere we are talking about Hate Free Zone and yet our children are being locked up as a product of hate.โ
Demonstrators would not be specific, but vowed continued action leading up to the Thursdayโs vote to allow the Master Land Use permit.
Featured photo: Marcus Harrison Green
Note: An earlier version of this article mistakenly pegged the cost of the Family Justice Center at $160 million dollars. It has been updated.
This is WONDERFUL. Many of us are wary of the Democrats’ long history of coopting social movements. The current “Anti-Trump” activity is the current example. If you call it an anti-Trump rally or anti-hate rally and all I see are Democratic Party politicians on the stage, it’s not an anti-Trump rally or an anti-Trump rally. It’s a “revive the Democrats” rally. This is a GREAT example of protest that refuses to subsume itself under the liberal framework of “Against Hate” or “Against Trump.” It’s not just Trump. It’s the whole damned system. And again, it’s black people’s struggle against racism which teaches us the way forward.
The one thing that troubles me is that the current facility is in horrible condition and needs to be rebuilt. The new facility will house all the needs for the youth, counseling, schooling, etc and all in one place, which will help them be compliant. In the past they had to go elsewhere to meet all the requirements put on them by the courts.