Seattle erects concrete wall around Capitol Hill precinct amid protests

City officials constructed a concrete wall around the Capitol Hill police precinct in Seattle after a suspected arson attack occurred while officers were inside.

“Officers will continue to be stationed in the precinct and respond to 9-1-1 calls in the area,” a city statement said Friday, according to The Seattle Times.

The triple-stacked wall erected Friday is in addition to a shorter barrier and a chain-link fence that were previously set next to the police station.

In June, police vacated the precinct when demonstrators set up what they called an autonomous protest zone.

Seattle, like many cities, had seen large protests against racial injustice and police brutality after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody on May 25.

This week, federal prosecutors charged a 19-year-old Alaskan man with arson. Desmond David-Pitts is accused of setting trash bags on fire Monday night in a part of the precinct where police cars exit a secure steel door.

David-Pitts began his activism after his 16-year-old brother was killed by police, according to the Anchorage Daily News.

Mike Solan, president of the Seattle Police Officers Guild, called Monday’s fire an “act of domestic terrorism.”

City officials told the Times that they are equipping the precinct with additional fire extinguishers and “securing exposed windows.”

Demonstrators have been protesting in Seattle consistently since Floyd’s death. Most protests have been peaceful, but some have resulted in damaged buildings and fireworks targeted at police, the Times noted. The police, in turn, have sprayed tear gas and shot stun grenades toward protest crowds.