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On February 27, 2001, during Mardi Gras celebrations in the U.S. city of Seattle, Washington, rioting broke out in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. There were many random attacks on revelers over a period of about three and a half hours. There were reports of widespread brawling, vandalism, and weapons being brandished. Damage to local businesses exceeded $100,000. 69 people were reported injured and several women were sexually assaulted. Much of the violence was perpetrated against white revelers. A 13 year old child was among the injured. One person, Kris Kime, died of injuries sustained during an attempt to assist a woman being brutalized. 21 people were originally arrested while dozens more were brought in after being identified through the use of videotape, photographs, and eyewitnesses.^{[1 ]}

Festivities and violence

Pioneer Square is often described as the center of Seattle's nightlife and was the site of Mardi Gras celebrations for 25 years. Festivities on the Friday and Saturday leading up to this particular Fat Tuesday were quickly broken up by police. Over 9,000 party goers filled the neighborhood and bars on the evening of the incident. Large crowds began forming in the central plaza at 9:00 PM and eventually spilled into the streets. The celebrations included drinking, dancing, and women baring their breasts for beads.^{[2 ]}

Throngs of men began groping the women as they exposed themselves.^{[3 ]} Shortly after at around 10:40 PM, sporadic fighting broke out. Police donned riot gear and formed lines but for the most part did not enter the crowd. Cars were vandalized and overturned. Small fires were set and the windows of business were shattered. Police were notified that young men were pointing firearms and brandishing other weapons towards people. By midnight, groups roved through the crowd randomly attacking people along the stretch of Yesler Street between First and Second avenues.^{[2 ]} Paramedics were not able to reach some victims due to the lack of police control in the area.^{[4 ]}

At 12:30 AM, 25 to 30 young men advanced on a line of police. The police retreated while bottles and other debris were thrown. A team of bicycle officers made a quick charge toward the crowd with pepper spray before retreating again. Fighting escalated with little police interference until shots were fired at 1:30 AM. With the assistance of an armored vehicle, police advanced on the crowd with tear gas, pepper spray, and flashbangs. The crowds were finally dispersed shortly after 2:00 AM.^{[2 ]}

Racial motivation

The day after the riot, local newspapers carried a picture of a black man with brass knuckles engaged in an assault which came to symbolize the riot.^[5] An editorial in The Stranger claimed the incident was racially motivated and that much of the violence was directed at white civilians.^[6] Witnesses claimed gangs of black youth yelled racially charged slang and sought after white victims.^{[7 ]} Investigations later showed that roughly 75 percent of the over 100 suspects were black. Many of the suspects had criminal records and some were known to be gang members by local police.^{[8 ]}

Consequences

In the wake of the riots, Mayor Paul Schell announced a moratorium on Mardi Gras celebrations in Seattle.^{[2 ]}

During the incident, Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske ordered the police at the scene not to intervene, instead maintaining a perimeter around the growing violence.^{[1 ]} Shortly after the incident, the Seattle police force voted a resolution of "no confidence" in Chief Kerlikowske when officers complained of being "held back too long". The City of Seattle acknowledged police strategy presented a public safety threat, and settled with Kime's family for just under $2,000,000. Mayor Paul Schell appointed three paneled task force to investigate the cause of the Mardi Gras riots.^{[9 ]} He instructed them not to discuss the lack of police intervention which the public had been concerned about. Initially task force meetings were closed to the public, but protest forced the city to open them.

King County Executive Ron Sims called the protests at the 1999 World Trade Organization meeting and the Mardi Gras riot "defining issues" in Schell's failed bid for reelection.^{[9 ]} Mayoral challenger Greg Nickels made Kime's death a political issue in his campaign, saying the certificate of his death would hang in his office should he become mayor. A picture of Kime hangs there today. However, Mayor Nickels retained Kerlikowske as police chief.

On the day after the Mardi Gras riots ended, Seattle had a magnitude 6.8 earthquake, the worst in 37 years. The scale of the Nisqually Earthquake caused people to refocus their attention on earthquake recovery and away from the violence. Outside the Seattle area, the incidents attracted little media attention and have largely been forgotten.

References

External links

• Expanded coverage from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer