Group occupies building slated for demolition at 10th and Union — UPDATE

Around 100 Occupy Seattle protesters have taken over the empty warehouse at 10th and Union on the backside of Pike/Pine’s entertainment district.

UPDATE: SWAT raid, arrests as police clear occupied building


67 thoughts on “Group occupies building slated for demolition at 10th and Union — UPDATE

  1. they have gone too far. trespassing is against the law. if they do not leave, they need to be forcibly removed. if they resist, law enforcement needs to take any means necessary to remove them. If law enforcement doesn’t remove them I will vocal about it. this anarchy must stop! I’m pissed that they are using police resources on them for blantantly breaking the law.

  2. Now THIS is going to change the world!

    They’re taking the obvious moral high ground: Well, if evil banks and corporations steal, why shouldn’t we?

    I just hope some bank will soon jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.

  3. What really is the problem? They have taken over an empty building. This is far more than just a public statement, it is actual practical direct action. The camp is moving towards eviction, the winter is setting in. Occupying spaces that have roofs, and that can be defended easier than a park or a lawn seems like a pretty damn good idea to me, unless you for some reason believe in the sanctity of private (empty) property.

  4. If they can keep it safe and make sure there are no fires or it doesn’t become a health hazard, why does it really matter if an abandoned building is used like this for a few weeks? I’m sure the owner would be inviting legal liability of they agreed to it, but other than that I don’t see much of a problem.

  5. well actually, in the seattle area, capitol hill actually is one of the places where the 1% congregate. it’s not just coincidental that the building is 2 blocks from a ferrari dealership, and 5 blocks from where a condo is on the market for 10 million dollars.

  6. The anti-Occupy contingent are indignantly banging away on their keyboards tonight!

    Listen boys, wear bigger fedoras. Those tiny ones are cutting off circulation to your brains, and the resulting cerebral hypoxia makes you sound like a bunch of embittered, constipated geezers.

    Or maybe that’s just the way you are. Regardless, it ain’t pretty. Plus, if you keep seething like this, you’re going to get an ulcer.

  7. Yeah, what’s really the problem. I mean if they’re shooting up and sexually assaulting people in public view on a school campus…surely nothing seedy will occur in an abandoned building.

    Can one of you Occupy-supporters please explain the difference between what they are doing and homeless people squatting in an abandoned building? I mean, at least at SCCC they were visible, now they’ve moved into a building right on the edge of the main pedestrian areas (not that I’m upset about that at all) and will hardly even be seen.

    Plus, who is paying for their electricity? Seriously, can they just demo the building with these bums inside?

  8. What if you were trying to sell a house…and that house went unsold for months…are you going to let a group of homeless people squat in it “for just a few weeks?” What’s the harm?

    Everybody is a-okay with giving away somebody else’s shit.

  9. Maybe you could drop your car off there for them to use when you aren’t. Since it’s not a big deal.

    Or maybe they can come sleep in your bed during the day, you know, since you’re not using. What’s the problem?

  10. @Tiffany –

    Yes, it is a coincidence. These morons don’t know what they’re doing. They fell into this spot because it’s scheduled to be demo’d…it’s not like they were planning to move closer to the Ferrari dealership.

  11. Except that this building is close to being demolished, so the house for sale comparison doesn’t hold. This seems more along the lines of that apartment building behind the old Squid Row that was used as an unauthorized art installation up until the day they demolished it. And if my car was a few weeks from being intentionally demolished then I actually wouldn’t have a problem with them using it. :)

  12. So I should be clear that I in no way speak for OS, but why does there need to be a difference between homeless squatters and “activism”? Certainly many homeless people are operating more in survival mode than with other goals in mind, but the lines aren’t or at least shouldn’t be so clear cut.

    Who is paying for the power? Probably the property owner, which seems to be an eastside development firm. Perhaps cap hill residents should consider who they want out of their neighborhood?

  13. What I mean is that it’s not a coincidence that all of this stuff is in our neighborhood. We have poor people, middle income people, and yes, a larger concentration of the 1% than just about anywhere else north of San Francisco. If you don’t believe me, go look at the property records on Redfin. :)

  14. @etaoin shrdlu

    at least some of us have brains, tiny as you think they may be. nice name calling by the way. the last refuge of those who can’t make rational arguments? pathetic. way to “write hard”.

  15. @tiffany

    i doubt the 1% spends all their time (or even 9pm on a friday) hanging out at the ferrari dealership on capitol hill. while they may be filthy rich, i doubt they have enough money to buy a new ferrari every day. so it’s not like capitol hill is a 1% magnate like say, medina is.

  16. @yes, yes, we get it

    please explain to me how trespassing and camping out will stop illegal foreclosures and restructure our financial system to prevent further meltdowns? explain to me what tactics occupy is taking, in addition to breaking the law, to changes laws and how financial institutions do business.

    i have no problem with the idea of occupy. the issue i have is the self-centered, self-righteous nature of the “anarchists” who claim to represent me and the majority of the 99%. the fact is, the current occupy doesn’t represent the majority. they are a joke. and as such i will laugh at them and call out their failings; which are many.

    want to gain my support? try a better argument than a flippant comment on a hyper-local blog. maybe YOU should get it.

  17. @tiffany

    yes, and my home is worth 1/4 million and i have friends who have homes worth a half million plus and none of us make more than a two figure salary. we are nowhere near the 1%. the cost of the home doesn’t designate where the wealthy are, just how much the market values property.

    or are you trying to argue that anyone who can afford to buy a home on the hill is the 1%?

  18. What’s the point of moving into a building thats going to be demolished? They’re going to stop construction on a new apartment building that will bring more life to the hill. Get off my hill and go to Olympia where you can make a difference.

  19. @e

    so, then, you’d be okay if i just came over an borrowed your bike/car when you weren’t using it or let myself into your home while you were at work? i mean, it doesn’t belong to me but what’s really the problem? you weren’t using those things at the time.

    do you understand the concept of not using things that don’t belong to you? this should have been taught to you in first grade.

  20. If you can afford to pay a million dollars for one, then yes. And to be clear, I don’t even have a problem with the 1%. If you want to look at the .0000000001%, Bill Gates and Paul Allen have both done wonderful things both for our community and for humanity in general. I’m just arguing against this misguided notion that there are no 1%ers here. And if you actually included Downtown and Queen Anne, there are actually a hell of a lot more 1%ers on this side of the lake.

  21. good to see occupy’s true colors flow in attacking someone who peaceably disagreed with their cause. way to get your point across to the 99%.

    oh wait, i forgot, that part of the hill is a magnet for the 1%. i know how much they love to wave signs in protest of anarchists. whew, you win again occupy.

  22. @tiffany

    you fail at reading comprehension. my comment:


    notice the ‘ALL’ regarding their time? nowhere did i say there were NO 1%ers on the hill. so your arguement isn’t about a misguided notion – it’s just plain misguided.

    and your idea that you have to be a 1%er to own a million dollar home just shows that you know nothing about the home market/ownership in seattle. yes, there are a lot of wealthy on this side of the lake. but they aren’t at 10th and union. hell, occupy should go over the hill to madison valley and camp on the lawn of broadmoor if medina’s too far. want to talk about where the 1% are on this side of the lake.

    it’s not in the heart of the capitol hill club district.

  23. Well I am a long time hill resident and having them here doesn’t bother me in the slightest. And I wish that this site would use facebook accounts for commenting because I think it would cut down on the type of arguing that goes in here where people like to throw out personal insults whenever they get the chance.

  24. @tiffany


    if you mean my reading comprehension remark, well, i’d say that to your face on the street. i’m not one person online and another in real life. and anytime you’d like to reveal your personal facebook info on this site i will reciprocate in kind.

  25. There are more Occupy activist groups in Puget Sound than just the Seattle City group, just like there are more crony business/finance/politics associations than just the ones in Seattle City.

  26. I hope you are better than your simple potshots.
    Of course most know that the 1% (and even those below with money to own homes) have vastly different methods of voicing their views and getting what they want.
    At some point you (yes you) have to acknowledge you are very wealthy in the world-wide standards and even in the US.

  27. @tiffany

    good thing you didn’t, because then you might be a 1%er. gasp!

    i sure wish this site would use facebook accounts for commenting because i think it would cut down on one-sided stalking cases. :)

  28. @juno

    “I hope you are better than your simple potshots.”

    that makes no sense.

    yes, in comparative terms, i am part of the worldwide top 10%. so are you with your internet access and freedom to your own opinion. i’ve worked very hard, from being homeless myself, to get to where i am. i count myself extremely lucky. but it was also partially my hard work that got me to where i am. not my trespassing or beating up someone who disagreed with my opinions.

    how’s that for a potshot?

  29. Zee – hey give us a break. You are a conservative…. maybe lives on the Hill, and have not like this movement – neither their message nor their tactics from the very beginning.

    There is NOTHING they could do except evaporate over night to please you.

    Because America is full of empty and abandoned buildings, hundreds of thousands, there is a major issue why the homeless must sleep on the street. Simply humane. Shelter = life. Exposure = death — all more true in winter.

    They tried self sufficent camping – oh god, its them, go away – and now a new tactic.

    I am impressed. About time.

    By the way in many Euro countries, yes those you admire, squatting is legal. And considered humane.

  30. It’s a temporary thing. For all the excitement and work to make it a nice little place to stay for a few days, nobody I talked to expected it to last longer than the rumbling of the first bulldozer. Get that out of your minds.

    Secondly, when the crowd hit its peak numbers of well over 100, the energy was alive. Folks from the previous community center there, teachers, local business owners, students, young, old, gay, straight, trans, cis. Everyone represented. In fact, the cross-section of people was more ethnically diverse than a lot of places in Seattle. It was fantastic. Heck, we had writing in numerous languages, from Shoshone to Spanish and back again.

    Finally, look, if you don’t get it you don’t. And if you’re hostile, that’s your business. Obviously the negativity hasn’t worked and won’t work. If you really want to shut Occupy up then start working on fixing things like income inequality, homelessness, police abuse of POCs, the previously ignored poor state of SCCC, cuts to education and so on. Stuff we chant about all the time, stuff we write to our reps about all the time, stuff we talk to others about all the time.

    Peace :)

  31. It’s an incomplete report that’s basically one side of the story. But obviously it’s time to get really eager because that just proves everything! I mean, it’s not like it’s a trio out of dozens of regulars or anything!

    And since roughhousing is cause for crackdowns, I think we need to shut down the malls and Targets and Wal-Marts of this country after what happened on Black Friday.

  32. You are plain silly if you think all it takes is a million dollar house to be in the 1% club. And lets not kid ourselves, this is America. Most, if not all of us would love to make the 10% club, let alone 1%. If i was in the 1% I’d be laughing at all you little people from my private island somewhere warm. Do you really think the 1% is hanging out in this Seattle weather?!?!?

  33. Start a rave or industrial club in your OS abandoned warehouse HQ, and lots more people will come down, maybe not for your cause, but for the party! D & B anyone?

  34. Please forgive me if I laugh right back, “zeebleoop,” O ye of no failings.

    As you said, “nice name calling by the way. the last refuge of those who can’t make rationale arguments?”

    “Rationale” arguments? We could argue about rationales all day, but would that be rational? Not necessarily.

  35. Hell yes occupy. This is a great step. Business owners have leached off our labor for too long. It’s time we get something back. Keep it up folks!! :)

  36. So….you wouldn’t have supported the African American civil rights movement because there was civil disobedience? The letter of the law is more important to you than morality? Cool. Now I know where you stand. :)

  37. @etaoin shrdlu

    “”Rationale” arguments? We could argue about rationales all day, but would that be rational? Not necessarily.”

    if your goal is to change social inequities then, yes, having a rationale, a plan, something other than law-breaking would help to actually accomplish those goals. and maybe gain more people for the causee. but it doesn’t seem as though this crew is too concerned with accomplishment or goals.


    so you’re comparing the civil rights movement, where african americans were fighting for their basic rights as citizens, to seattle occupy’s fight for their right to camp out? that’s not even comparing apples to oranges; it’s like apples to seashells.

  38. Nope, I was not comparing those two things, I was discussing civil disobedience as a tactic. You were critical of civil disobedience as a tactic, so I referred you to a case where it was obviously justified. Morality trumps the letter of the law, would you not agree?

  39. @m.t.

    “Morality trumps the letter of the law, would you not agree?”

    yes, i would agree. the civil rights movement had the moral high ground. i don’t see that occupy does.

  40. Finally an immediate and forceful response by our city police. The message is loud and clear: trespassing is ILLEGAL. Private property is not a home for these miscreants. One has to wonder what these folks are thinking. What is it that they don’t understand? Invading someone’s private property and such lawlessness with be dealt with accordingly. You are a complete distraction to whatever OWS stands for. Shame on you.

  41. My wife and I were harassed by two street kids at the walgreens across the street from the homeless camp at SCCC last night. They were following us around the store being intimidatingly loud saying things like ‘HELLO HOW ARE YOU? HOW IS YOUR EVENING?’ for some reason I can’t fathom we didn;t say anything to them or give them any reason to single us out, they were just being assholes and daring people to do something about it.

    I’m happy their little camp is going to be churned into the dirt. Fuck these assholes.

  42. Weeks ago a home in the Central District which is owned by a black family was stolen by a group of white people initially with ties to OS. Many in our neighborhood protested given the irony of the situation and the hostile attitude of Puget Sound Anarchist group who later issued an official statement of occupation. Though many in the community made complaints to the police and the Principal of Garfield High issued a statement to parents, the Seattle Times reported that neither the community nor the HS had complaints. Three weeks later, we see no SWAT, no arrests and only just recently a “we’re working on it” statement from SPD. If anyone from OS is reading this, I would like to know if the group will be making any statement on this inequitable application of law enforcement. Thank you.

  43. thanks for the censorship JS. thanks also for lying to everyone that asked you if you were press. now we know what you look like and will make sure to keep you out of further actions.

  44. I have to assume that the owner(s) of the house in the CD has not made a formal complaint of trespassing to the SPD. If they had, I’m pretty sure the police would have acted.