Two arrested outside ICE facility at downtown Spokane ‘No Kings’ rally

A “No Kings” rally Saturday at Riverfront Park went off without a hitch until a small skirmish between police and protesters outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building near the park broke out and led to two arrests.

Officers working at the protest were flagged down at about 2:45 p.m. by a man who told police that a woman, later identified as 18-year-old Lilian Cantu, stole his flag from him as he was holding it, according to a Spokane Police Department news release. The man pointed the woman out to officers.

As officers attempted to detain Cantu, a man, later identified as 32-year-old Christopher Hutto, assaulted one of the officers, police said.

Cantu was arrested on suspicion of first-degree theft, and Hutto was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault. Both were booked into the Spokane County Jail and remained there Saturday night.

Several items, including large rocks, pepper spray, disposable face masks and spray paint, were found on the two protesters who were arrested, according to police.

Officers pinned the two suspects to the grass along Washington Street near Cataldo Avenue, according to Spokesman-Review cellphone video. Other officers could be seen shoving another protester away who appeared to be trying to interfere with one of the arrests. Another shoving match could be seen between two officers and two other protesters.

Police loaded the two handcuffed suspects into patrol cars as many protesters hurled insults at the officers, many of whom were on bicycles, and recorded the incident on their cellphones. Some protesters, including at least one on a megaphone, chanted, “What are their charges?”

About seven officers on bicycles and seven marked and unmarked police cars then dispersed, driving or riding away north on Washington Street. The encounter, from the time police arrived to when they left, lasted about five minutes.

Protesters continued to rally and hold signs along Washington Street after the arrests. The group grew to about 75 people around 3:15 p.m.

Some expressed their anger on how police handled the incident and were perhaps unclear on what instigated the arrests.

Aswayla Hoitmeneses, one of the witnesses, said the woman who was arrested was one of the people leading protesters to the ICE facility at the Broadview Dairy building at 411 W. Cataldo Ave.

“I feel like it was totally uncalled for, and it could have gone a totally different way,” Hoitmeneses said. “I hate it.”

Brutus Tieskotter said she was joining in on the rally chants when she turned around and everyone was on top of each other. She said she was shocked and called the officers’ actions “very aggressive.”

“It was very unprofessional,” Tieskotter said. “I know they’re just doing their jobs, but this is not the right way to do it. This is violent. We are doing peaceful protests, and it’s not a way to respond to such peaceful protest.”

Isa Sevier, another protester who also acted as a volunteer medic during the protest, said a counterprotester with a Trump flag was standing across the street before he made his way over to the group of protesters. She said the woman who was arrested grabbed the flag from him.

The man with the Trump flag then spoke with police, Sevier said. Officers on bicycles then showed up a couple minutes later.

Bicycle officers were also the targets of disparaging words from protesters when they formed a line with their bikes across the Post Street bridge, blocking access to protesters who were marching that direction.

A few hundred people held signs and peacefully protested President Donald Trump’s administration Saturday afternoon along Spokane Falls Boulevard near the Riverfront Park Rotary Fountain.

One group of about 50 protesters then broke off halfway through the rally and started marching, partially in the street, toward City Hall before turning north on Post Street. Bike officers rode alongside and appeared to try to guide the protesters onto the sidewalk and away from passing cars. The officers then rode ahead of the protesters and blocked off the Post Street bridge.

Some protesters started to call the officers offensive names and chanted, “Our streets.” At least one person used a loudspeaker to yell into the faces of officers. A couple protesters squeezed through the police line but were told to return to the other side.

The group then redirected their march through Riverfront Park chanting, “No ICE, No KKK, No fascist USA,” until they reached the ICE building on Cataldo Avenue. An anti-ICE chant broke out, and one protester repeatedly stomped his foot against the glass entrance to the building.

Meanwhile, the protest near the Rotary Fountain stretched for about two blocks on Spokane Falls Boulevard from Stevens to Wall streets. Drivers passing by almost constantly honked in support of the protesters.

Spokane Dissidents organized the No Kings rally downtown, one of many No Kings protests held throughout the region and country Saturday.

Amanda Shelley, a member of Spokane Dissidents, said the downtown rally was peaceful besides the two arrests on the other side of the park.

“It’s very unfortunate that the police became aggressive as they promised us they were not going to,” Shelley said. “So, that’s really a bummer, but not unexpected, just disappointed.”

Overall, the rally was a success, she said.

“I’ve asked everybody to stay nonviolent,” Shelley said. “I’ve asked everybody to stay peaceful, but they are allowed to be angry and they are allowed to communicate that anger to the people who are harming members of our community, and however they choose to do that, they’re adults and I respect that.”

Protesters near the Rotary Fountain held signs like, “No Kings in America,” “Immigrants Make America Great Again” and “No War.” At times, some chanted, “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Donald Trump has got to go.”

Carlene Brusca’s signread, “Silence = Consent.”

“If we’re quiet, then we’re saying it’s OK,” Brusca said. “If we don’t speak out, we’re accepting it. And we have to speak out if we want to fight it.”

She said “everything” is upsetting her under Trump’s watch but focused on his immigration policies.

“Everything is upsetting me, not just the government, but people’s complacency, their silence, their acceptance,” Brusca said.

Brusca said she won’t be silent, evidenced by her appearance at Saturday’s protest and her biweekly presence protesting outside of Spokane’s ICE facility.

Sydney Curtis is also no stranger to protesting outside the ICE building.

Curtis, who was protesting near Brusca on Saturday on Spokane Falls Boulevard, was arrested outside the ICE facility during the major protest in June following the detention of Cesar Alvarez Perez and Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres. Rodriguez Torres was released seven months later after a federal judge ruled in January that his detention was illegal. Alvarez Perez chose to self-deport rather than remain in custody.

Nine people were federally charged in the June protest, but Curtis, a U.S. Navy veteran, was not one of them. She said prosecutors dropped the failure to disperse charge against her.

“I’m here today because it’s important for us all to come together during this time,” Curtis said Saturday. “It’s been really hard, really depressing and really hopeless lately looking at the news and we’re at a war nobody wants.”

She said seeing Saturday’s protesters gives her a little hope that the country can turn for the better.

She said her disagreement with the Iran war was one of her primary reasons for attending Saturday’s downtown protest. She said the billions of dollars spent on the war could go toward healthcare instead.

“There’s so many better things that we can do with our tax dollars than that, and it’s really frustrating to have to pay to a system that’s bombing innocent people,” said Curtis, who noted she’s also concerned for American military lives.

While she’s hopeful, Curtis said she’s also tired from attending protests that don’t appear to be bearing fruit.

“I’m real tired, you know,” Curtis said. “I’m just trying to make it to the midterms.”