8 arrested as anti-LGBTQ group, counterprotesters descend on Seattle City Hall

Dozens of anti-LGBTQ demonstrators and counterprotesters faced off at Seattle City Hall on Tuesday as both sides scrutinized Mayor Bruce Harrell’s handling of a Capitol Hill protest over the weekend.

Tuesday's event saw eight arrests as skirmishes between demonstrators with Mayday USA, a Christian fundamentalist group advocating against trans rights, and pro-LGBTQ activists from either side of a police barricade.

Counterprotesters waved transgender pride flags, chanting, “Trans rights are human rights.”

Pastor Chelsea Globe with the Lutheran Campus Ministry at the University of Washington was one of several faith leaders who joined the pro-LGBTQ crowd outside the gates.

“People who are transgender — people who are sexual minorities — are actively being oppressed, and part of that is coming from people within my own religious tradition,” Globe said.

Meanwhile, anti-LGBTQ demonstrators cheered to worship music and waved signs with messages like “The church will not be silenced” and “Farewell to Harrell."

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Mayday USA previously held a rally inspired by the right-wing grassroots movement #DontMessWithOurKids in Cal Anderson Park on Saturday. It was one leg of a five-city tour.

Counterprotesters clashed with police Saturday, leading to the arrests of 23 people, most of whom have been charged with assault and obstruction. One juvenile was arrested for obstruction and then released.

FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino said on X Tuesday that the agency is investigating allegations of “targeted violence” against religious groups during Saturday’s rally.

In a statement following Saturday’s protest, Harrell characterized the event as a “far-right rally” intending to “to provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.”

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Mayday USA has rebuked the Mayor’s statement, and organized Tuesday’s “Rattle in Seattle” event to decry Harrell’s “false accusation and attempts to limit the freedom of Christian worship.”

“We are calling on the mayor to retract his statement, apologize, or resign,” the group said in a post on Instagram.

According to The Seattle Times, Folake Kellogg, a Wenatchee-based pastor and spokesperson for Mayday USA, said the group requested to hold the rally at Victor Steinbrueck Park but the city denied its request.

Harrell’s office has stated that Mayday requested a permit for a street location on 1st and 2nd Avenue, not Victor Steinbrueck Park. A permit for a street closure was denied by the city’s Special Events Office, and a staffer shared a list of available parks.

“Given that it was available and met the size/logistic needs available for the event, it was granted,” Harrell’s spokesperson Callie Craighhead said in an email statement. “This is consistent with free speech requirements under the First Amendment."

Harrell said he's also directing the city's parks department to review "all of the circumstances" of Mayday USA's application to figure out whether "legal location alternatives" could have been pursued.

In the meantime, other anti-LGBTQ Christian groups say they're planning to return to Cal Anderson over the summer.

One event, Revive 25, is advertising an event on Aug. 30. A Change.org petition is asking the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department to move the event from Cal Anderson Park to Warren G. Magnuson Park due to safety concerns.

KUOW has reached out to Seattle Parks and Recreation for comment.