Quiet May Day protests around Sound

From the state capitol to downtown Seattle, there were pockets of protests on this May Day but nothing like some of the violence we've seen in the past.

This year’s demonstrators also had a much different message.

The rally by the Proud Boys of Seattle actually was among the largest.

They were on Fourth and Jefferson, police officers as well. Everybody was trying to express themselves on this May Day.

They gathered outside the King County courthouse, these protestors led by the Proud Boys, declaring, on this May Day, their fervent opposition to the governor’s Stay Home, Stay Healthy order.

“We should have been, day one, in front of the governor demanding our freedom,” an insistent Naphtali Moore of Proud Boys told the crowd. “Free men don’t ask for it. Free men don’t wait 'til May 4th.”

“Two of my three businesses have been destroyed,” Dion T. said, “Two of my three of 'em. It’s absolutely ridiculous.”

This is what we have grown accustomed to on May Days past, a marked contrast with today.

A drive-by tax Amazon protest attracted a small group of anti-tax Libertarians. They say they oppose taxing anyone during this pandemic.

“Sales, fuel tax, water, you know, we pay so many taxes and that makes it harder for people to save,” said Bess Byers, Libertarian Party of King County. “It makes it harder for people to pay the bills especially in a pandemic.”

The Proud Boys marched the few blocks to the Westlake Center, before returning to the courthouse park. Tensions began to rise so Seattle police put up barricades. But then the tension fizzled out.

And this may not be the end.

The Proud Boys say one order from the governor they do plan to abide by is his decision early on that the Stay Home, Stay Healthy order would end on May 4th.

They say it will end for them. They plan to go out and resume their lives.

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