Members of the Seattle, Washington Department of Parks and Recreation, along with city police, removed a community garden planted at Cal Anderson Park as part of the Black Lives Matter 2020 protest on Wednesday.
City officials said in a statement that the temporary park was “temporarily” removed due to public health and safety concerns, as well as for maintenance reasons including reseeding and grass restoration.
Efforts on Wednesday also included removing tent encampments located near the park and outside the park along E. Olive Street, which city officials said is to ensure public spaces remain clean and open for everyone.
So far this year, the City’s Integrated Care Team has cleared encampments at Cal Anderson Park 76 times, making the park one of the most frequently addressed areas in the city for reoccupied encampments, the city said.
City officials also said the temporary park has created unsafe conditions for people enjoying the park.
City officials said in a statement that the “temporary” temporary park is being moved. Getty Images
Examples of incidents include vandalism in park public bathrooms, public drug use, unauthorized camping and a growing rat population.
The Seattle Times reports that Seattle Parks plans to act in October, despite the city receiving pushback from Black Star Farmers, a group that leads the park.
In fact, the group requested more than 5,000 signatures from the public against the park’s removal, citing the park’s respect for Black and Indigenous people killed by police.
The community garden was planted at Cal Anderson Park as part of the Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. Getty Images
Opponents also claim the garden provides community members a place for joy and healing, as plants such as amaranth, tobacco, corn, currants, strawberries and more grow there.
However, Seattle Parks says the park needs to be moved so the park can be used for other reasons.
Located in the “Sun Bowl” area of the park, the park offers space for gatherings and events and is close to electricity and water connections.
The park was moved due to public health and safety concerns, as well as for maintenance reasons including reseeding and grass restoration. Getty Images
The publication reported that park supporters saw the park being taken out by construction vehicles escorted by park rangers and police.
A bystander said no notice was given of the removal, but he showed up to save some plants.
Seattle Parks said it has conducted community engagement with park visitors, neighbors and adjacent businesses near the park since 2020 and received “significant” feedback indicating a desire to relocate the park elsewhere in the park.
The department also said it had been communicating with community activists since 2020, offering alternative locations for the park, although none of those locations were accepted by the park’s organizers.
The city said it “remains committed to an ongoing dialogue to come up with alternative park sites.”
Some community leaders are concerned about the park’s removal, including councilor-elect Joy Hollingsworth, who said the park should be kept safe, clean and welcoming.
A protester adjusts temporary barricades made to replace barricades removed by city crews at the entrance to the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) on June 30, 2020 in Seattle. Getty Images
“Cal Anderson Park is the living room of Capitol Hill and the focal point of our city,” Hollingsworth said. “It is important that we prioritize cleanliness in shared public spaces so that our neighborhoods can continue to thrive.”
Some people don’t realize there is a park to commemorate victims of fatal police brutality, including Katrina Johnson, Charleena Lyles’ cousin who was shot and killed by Seattle police officers Steven McNew and Jason Anderson.
The two officers claimed Lyles cornered them in the kitchen while pointing a small knife.
A person carries a newly placed park closure sign as another builds a temporary barricade to replace a barricade removed by city crews at the entrance to an area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) on June 30, 2020 in Seattle. Getty Images
“To make a park without contacting the family and even telling them about it tells me that this is not about our loved ones but about people hijacking a movement and trying to make a name for themselves out of our pain and that’s just not okay,” Johnson said in a statement provided on the city’s website.
Darrell Powell, president of the Seattle, King County NAACP said the park should be a memorial to Black lives lost to police violence.
Instead, he says, it has turned into anything but that.
“The Black community is not aware of the existence of the park, and the park does not represent in any meaningful sense, a large number of Black lives being erased by police violence,” Powell said. “The Seattle-King County NAACP stands with Mayor Bruce Harrell and his administration in creating a true representation commemorating Black Lives lost to police violence.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
