Seattle judge rules police must permit property damage, cannot enforce laws against graffiti, vandalism

Image  Ari Hoffman Seattle WA

“…until further order of the Court, SPD cannot take action on damage to property under this law.”

The Seattle Police Department has stated that officers can no longer enforce laws regarding property damage following a ruling from a federal judge.

On Tuesday, US District Court Judge Marcha Pechman issued an injunction that the City of Seattle cannot enforce its anti-graffiti ban in response to a lawsuit by Derek Tucson, Robin Snyder, Monsieree de Castro, and Erik Moya-Delgado who were arrested in 2021 for writing “BLM,” and anti-cop expletives such as “F*ck the police” in chalk and charcoal on concrete walls that had been erected to protect SPD’s East Precinct from vandalism and rioters.

The preliminary injunction from Pechman stated that the city’s existing property damage laws can violate a person’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and are “overly vague and overboard.”

On Wednesday in response to the ruling, SPD released a statement that read, “…until further order of the Court, SPD cannot take action on damage to property under this law. This is not a matter within SPD or City discretion; we are bound by the court order as it is written.”

full story https://thepostmillennial.com/

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