East Precinct Pro-SPD Rally

I just got back from the “Pro-Police” rally on 12th Street, and I have to tell you, I’m kind of baffled.

I mean, I just don’t get it. What, exactly, are the people of Capitol Hill supposed to think about this?

“Awww shucks, ma’am, you’re right. That whole Ian Birk thing was an overreaction on my part. My bad!”

A large group of wives were lined up outside the police department (where on earth did they find parking???), while 4 protesters stood on the other side decrying the actions of Ian Birk.

About 1 in 7 cars beeped in support of the women (support came in clusters), and a few gave a thumbs down or other disapproving gesture. From my own short time there, they were getting some love, but it wasn’t overwhelming.

As I was stopped at the light riding home, one woman held a sign out in front of me and tried to get me to “honk”, but I just calmly shook my head back and forth in a “no” gesture. I felt no need to return the rudeness and hostility these women were expressing toward the people of Seattle.

The women held up signs that read “We Support SPD” and “We Appreciate You”, even though statistics show that only a small minority of these women live in Seattle. Dare I opine that they have no idea what kind of job their husbands do while they attend PTA meetings in Mount Vernon.

The fact is that WE (not them) support the SPD. Clearly, what they appreciate more than anything is the paycheck their husbands bring home (again, courtesy of you, the Seattle resident).

I would understand if the cops had been falsely maligned, but they are on tape shooting people, kicking people, punching people, and calling them racial names. Not only that, but the SPD is currently in the middle of a Federal Investigation into abusive policing.

And the ladies are out supporting this.

I mean, supporting it for us, not for them since they don’t live here.

You know, I’m not easily offended, but I found this rally VERY offensive.

Look, there is nothing wrong with supporting your spouse, but there is a time and a place. When your husbands have been beating the hell out of a population fifty miles distant, you don’t go there and tell them how lucky they are to have received the beating. Instead, you convey your words of encouragement at home until the community has healed its wounds.

It takes a special kind of ivory tower mentality to think that rubbing our noses in the mess the police have made is in any way a good idea.

I’ll continue to cover these rallies for documentary purposes, and I’ll withhold my opinion in the future, but I have to be honest with you, they’re really creepy and they just feel very, very wrong.

For most people, I think it’s having the opposite effect of what these wives intended.

My 2 cents and it’s worth every penny.