On May 24, Christian fundamentalist group Mayday USA held a city-permitted rally in Seattle centered around anti-abortion and anti-trans-rights ideals based in religion, and was met with pushback from residents of Seattle protesting the event. Some 23 arrests were made, all were counter protesters in support of trans and women’s rights.
The rally took place at Cal Anderson Park, which is located in the historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood Capitol Hill. It featured live music, religious messages from several speakers, and speaking in tongues. Around 12 a.m. as Mayday USA set up their stage in the north side of the park, counter protesters who were opposed to the event’s message gathered at a barrier to the south set up by police in anticipation of conflict between the two groups. As the crowds on both sides grew larger, counter-protesters began to chant, holding up signs like “No hate on my hill” and “If you were taught to ‘love thy neighbor’ now is your chance”
Violence broke out shortly after protesters reportedly threw water balloons into the crowd, and a short brawl with the cops resulted in several arrests being made. The cops established a circle around the detained protesters in order to remove them from the area. Other arrests were made throughout the event as more violence involving the police took place, one being a minor who was released later that day. Around the time of the first group of arrests the Seattle Police Department tweeted “Officers are making multiple arrests at a protest inside Cal Anderson Park,” continuing with updates throughout the day.
The police were met with mixed reactions to their response. While attendees of the Mayday USA event by and large supported the action and saw it as protection, others noted that the police’s action was excessive and escalated the situation further. One witness of police violence who was a few feet from a brawl shared that two of the protesters that were arrested had done nothing to provoke this action, stating “Two of them I know for sure did nothing and were just in the wrong place at the wrong time” when asked about the situation. The same witness went on to elaborate, “another person got escorted out and their top was lowered and they were exposed and they were not doing anything about that either.”
In response to the protest, Mayor Harrell supported the counter-protest movement, stating “In the face of an extreme right-wing national effort to attack our trans and LGBTQ+ communities, Seattle will continue to stand unwavering in our embrace of diversity, love for our neighbors, and commitment to justice and fairness.” Mayday USA Co-host Ross Johnson celebrated the events that had taken place with comments like “We started a riot today in Seattle during worship and the gospel!!” and “IT’S GAME TIME, WHO’S READY?” on his various social media accounts.
Mayday USA is Co-hosted by Ross Johnson and Jenny Donnelly. Donnely in the last decade was involved in company Advocare, which used multi-level marketing strategies to make upwards of 700 million dollars. The company was subject to a class action lawsuit which named Donnelly as a defendant, court papers accused her as follows. “Defendant Jenny Donnelly is an individual residing in or near Portland, Oregon. She is at or near the top of the pyramid operated and promoted by the Defendants, and she actively participates in, promotes, and profits from AdvoCare’s pyramid scheme.” Mayday USA’s website details their mission as one against abortion rights and gender affirming care, praising Peru as a place where “transgenderism is classified as a mental illness, and life is defined at conception,” and calling American citizens to pursue the same goal.
The Mayor’s statement in support of the counter-protesters sparked Mayday USA and other affiliated figures to plan another event. This time around they planned a protest at Seattle’s city hall, requesting that Seattle’s mayor either apologize for his previous statement or resign. The event was advertised to feature speakers Ross Johnson, Russel Johnson, Jay Koopman, and backed by religious organization The Pursuit.
In anticipation for the coming protest, the police blocked off the street in front of city hall, barring counter-protesters from entering the event as they showed up hours before the planned start time. While the protesters were barred entry, the police allowed organizers of the religious event to set up a stage in city hall’s front courtyard. Event organizers coordinated with the Seattle Police Department to go about setting up the event upon arrival. Police continued to bar entry to the public space from trans rights activists due to the non-city-sanctioned event with the goal of preventing mingling between the crowds. No action was taken to keep Mayday USA supporters out of the crowd of counter-protesters that had gathered. Private security from The Pursuit was recorded asking “what church are you from” when people requested entry, and turning people away from the public space based on their answer.
Similar to the protest at Cal Anderson, arrests were made throughout the day as bits of violence broke out in the crowd between counter-protesters and the police force. Eight arrests were made by the end of the event. One individual arrested was interviewed, stating “While I was walking away a cop looked at me, pushed me back, and told me ‘go back’ and I was like ‘for what?’ and he’s like ‘you’re under arrest’ and I’m like ‘for what, for what?’ He didn’t tell me till five minutes after, he said ‘you’re under arrest for assault.’” The incident took place while he walked away from an altercation that did not involve the arrested individual.
In the aftermath of the protest, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino took to Twitter to state “We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert.” In response to city hall protest and Bongino’s tweet, mayor Harrel made a statement stating “We have had no official notice of an investigation by the FBI into the City, only a vague tweet, which seems to be the norm from the Trump administration . . . We will not shy away from standing up for Seattle residents and values under pressure from the Trump administration.”
One student in the district who attended the event at Cal Anderson commented that “I feel a lot more paranoid about the general surroundings and the law enforcement that is supposed to keep us safe . . . as a member of the LGBTQ+ community and a woman, I feel even less comfortable and secure in Seattle than I did before the protests.” Another student who had attended the protest who is a member of the LGBTQ+ community said “I think it’s very impactful to see people show up for each other like that and care enough to . . . put themselves in harm’s way to say something.” in reference to the counter protesters supporting trans and women’s rights.
