In the early morning of July 13, Tacoma police shot and killed Seattle-area man Willem Van Spronsen at the Northwest Detention Center, where the federal government imprisons refugees awaiting deportation. According to police statements published in various media, Van Spronsen was in a parking area attempting to damage vehicles used to facilitate prisoner transport, carrying a rifle and throwing “incendiary devices” near a propane tank. No one except Van Spronsen — shot and killed by police — was physically harmed.
This past year has been a very difficult one. With global fascism on the rise, the war has continued to escalate against people of color, women, trans and gender non-conforming folks, disabled people, and anyone who is economically disadvantaged. Here in Seattle, the housing catastrophe has intensified, with over 12,000 people living houseless at any given time.
In an Op-Ed for the Seattle Times August 29, Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes wrote that he would no longer be “turning a blind eye” to protesters who invoke their First Amendment rights by using non-violent protest tactics that block city traffic, in reaction to recent protests earlier this year held by activists from multiple movements.
On Jan. 19 the U.S. Supreme court agreed to hear a lawsuit brought by 26 states seeking to overturn President Obama’s 2014 executive order that would allow up to 5 million immigrants to gain work permits without fear of raids, incarceration and deportation. The order is currently suspended as a federal judge reviews its constitutionality. Continue reading Anti-Deportation Efforts at Northwest Detention Center Increase as Immigration Reform Heats Up→
Amplifying the Authentic Narratives of South Seattle
