The mayor of Bellingham, Wash., Supposedly had to be rushed from City Hall on Friday morning after protesters apparently defending the homeless invaded the building.
“It was disturbing,” said Mayor Seth Fleetwood, who was not shy about asking residents of a homeless camp outside the building to move 25 meters away, he told Seattle KIRO-TV.
“They knocked on the door and we heard that they somehow opened it and were entering, and I was advised to leave.”
He was taken through the back door of his car, the station reported. Fleetwood said he couldn’t help comparing it to the protesters who invaded the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 6.
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Protesters also spray-painted the outside of the building, the Bellingham Herald reported.
This undated photo shows protesters outside Bellingham City Hall, where a homeless camp took root.
(Bellingham city website)
Bellingham police told the Herald that about 20 protesters entered the lobby, but no damage was done and no one was injured.
The Herald reported that those who violated City Hall left without incident and no arrests were made.
Bellingham is a university town about 140 kilometers north of Seattle, which has been a center for anti-police protests and riots since last spring, including an anti-Biden riot on Inauguration Day that left damage at Pike Place Market.
The group that attacked Bellingham City Hall also pulled an American flag that was flying outside the building and started to step on it. Someone managed to save the flag from the rioters, KIRO reported.
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Fleetwood told KIRO that the city planned to ask members of the homeless camp that took root at the end of last year to move 25 feet from the building after several problems, including harassment of county officials and several fires.
“We are looking for a peaceful end to this camp and if there is a confrontation, we will not be the aggressors,” he said.
He added that the city is offering services and supplies to the campers and asking them to leave voluntarily.
The rioters were also hostile to local journalists who accused them of invading their privacy.
A radio reporter said the protesters stole his microphone, spray painted it, threw hot chocolate on it and tried to take his other equipment, including his iPad. He said the protesters had shouted that he was taking “unauthorized” photos of the protest.
“I have never experienced that kind of belligerence,” he said, according to KIRO. “We had protests in Bellingham and I have never seen anyone do that.”
The Herald reported that its journalists moved for security reasons, as they saw other reporters being harassed, as well as a HomesNOW! Official, who defends the homeless.
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“Circumstances in the city hall and on the library lawn are totally unsustainable, exacerbated in large part by outside protesters and agitators who are not residents of the camp,” Fleetwood said in a statement, according to the Herald. “Their actions are a disservice to people who are homeless and put them at greater risk.”