Traffic barriers erected in Downtown Seattle after third day of protests

SEATTLE — Traffic barriers were erected in part of Downtown Seattle early Monday after protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis continued for a third day.

The barriers started going up in a 3-by-4-block radius around 4 a.m.

Traffic is blocked but pedestrians can get through.

The barriers are within the core of Downtown Seattle’s shopping district and bordered on four sides by Third Avenue, Stewart Street, 7th Avenue and Union Street.

Though at one point police set off flash bangs during some tense moments as crowds continued to grow, the protests downtown on Sunday were primarily peaceful in stark contrast to the violence and destruction that happened on Saturday.

Now, numerous storefronts are boarded up after windows were smashed and looters wreaked havoc.

Sunday morning, neighbors pitched in to help board up windows and clean up graffiti.

“I was crying probably most of the night watching the news seeing the cities and the streets that I walk nearly every day and knowing that there’s some people out there willing to destroy, that really broke my heart," said volunteer Carly Birkey.

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