Seattle City Council Bans Police Use Of Crowd-Control Devices Amid Protests

Seattle City Council voted to ban police from using chokeholds and other crowd-control devices like tear gas and pepper spray, according to Fox News.

Reportedly, City Council voted unanimously.

The decision was a result of the use of tear gas by Seattle Police during a peaceful protest against racism and police brutality in the city’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Chief Carmen Best had vowed earlier not to use such tactics.

Reportedly, the city council received repeated complaints from residents forced out of their homes by the tear gas, despite the fact that they weren’t even protesting.

Councilmember Kshama Sawant said, “Many of us have witnessed it; many of us have experienced it,” Sawant said. “They falsely claimed that the protesters were violent rioters and that they had no alternative. … They even attempted to maintain those lies in the face of videos showing the police were the source — and the sole source — of the violence.”

Last week, a federal judge issued a temporary order banning Seattle police from using tear gas, pepper spray, and foam-tipped projectiles against protesters.

The court found that the department had used less-lethal weapons “disproportionately and without provocation,” stifling free speech.

More from Fox News:

The council’s measure prevents Seattle police from owning, renting, storing or using such weapons, including chemical irritants, water cannons, acoustic devices or other weapons that can cause pain or discomfort on multiple people.

The council also voted to bar officers from covering up their badge numbers with mourning badges.

Following national outcry over the death of Floyd, demonstrators took over several city blocks in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and declared it an autonomous zone dubbed the “Capitol Hill Organized Protest.” The area includes the Seattle police’s East Precinct, a building that protesters now occupy.