Seattle city crews clear homeless campers from Cal Anderson Park as cleanup begins

SEATTLE -- With several Seattle Police Department officers on hand to step in if needed, city crews cleared out a large homeless camp from Cal Anderson Park early Friday morning after a federal judge a day earlier declined to block authorities from removing the people and tents.

The homeless campers and protesters have occupied the Capitol Hill neighborhood park for several months, setting up barricades, threatening Seattle park employees and creating mounds of garbage and trash laced with used needles.

Occupiers of the park also had started several fires in recent days. In the most recent incident on Thursday night, an incendiary device was thrown into a Jeep Liberty parked on an adjacent street, setting fire to the vehicle and spreading to nearby combustibles, city officials said.

"Police have begun providing dispersal orders so that Seattle Parks can clean and conduct maintenance inside Cal Anderson Park," Seattle Police tweeted at the start of the sweep around 7:30 a.m. "Please leave the area."

All campers and protesters were cleared from the area by 8:15 a.m., city officials said in a prepared statement.

Officials originally intended to clear the park Wednesday morning. They postponed the sweep after makeshift barriers went up, dozens of black clad protesters arrived and park resident Ada Yeager filed a federal lawsuit.

A federal judge on Thursday ruled against Yeager, who had claimed a sweep would violate her civil rights.

Seattle officials have argued that the encampment, which until recently had about 50 residents, poses a public safety risk.

Video from a KOMO News crew showed a heavy police presence swarming the surrounding streets Friday morning and leading some people away in handcuffs.

Police said that 24 people were arrested for various offenses during the day, but most everyone in the park left on their own without incident.

Under new guidelines, the Seattle City Council has said they don't want police involved in sweeps, but Seattle Parks officials said conditions have become too dangerous to be at the park without police.

"Recent regular (Seattle Parks & Recreation) maintenance efforts have been met with threats of physical violence which is why SPR has had to request the assistance of the Seattle Police Department to ensure the safety of park maintenance and other City employees," a parks spokesperson said Wednesday. "Individuals have barricaded a portion of the park and intentionally set a fire to a tent. SFD has reported five fires in the last month."

Police on Friday also began removing a group of so-called "housing advocates" who have taken over a vacant home at 1106 Denny Way -- right across the street from the park. The group claimed it had occupied the home to support and bring attention to the city’s homeless community and had suggested that the property could temporarily house some of the homeless being removed from the park.

Once the homeless campers were cleared from the park on Friday, parks workers moved in with bulldozers and other equipment to start cleaning up the mess left behind.

"Because of the condition of the park, the City Departments expect it will take 6-8 hours to begin initial cleaning efforts to remove makeshift barricades, secure city facilities, clear hazards like needles, and remove large debris, garbage, and trash," city officials said in a statement. "Additional work will be expected to continue in the days to follow."

Officials said outreach workers will continue to offer shelter services, saying so far, they identified 50 shelter spaces available and since last Wednesday, 51 people have been referred to shelters including eight people to hotels and tiny homes, six youth and young adult shelters, 32 hotels, and one person returned to Olympia.

A spokesperson with the mayor's office says Parks staff collected and stored around 32 clear bags full of personal belongings. Belongings can be retrieved by calling 206-459-9949.

"Mayor Durkan believes our City can have mutually shared values: individuals experiencing homelessness should be in safer spaces like shelters and hotels especially during the winter, and our parks should not be places with illegal and unsafe conduct like fires, makeshift barricades blocking access to residents and first responders, or individuals who are threatening city workers conducting routine maintenance and breaking into city facilities," said a statement released by the office of Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan.

"The City has urged individuals to come inside to safer spaces over the last nine days. City contracted service providers have been offering shelter, hotel vouchers, and services at the park and reported to offer these resources to virtually every individual experiencing homelessness. Outreach providers have offered resources such as hotel vouchers, 24/7 enhanced shelters, tiny home villages, and flexible funding for individuals, which at least 51 individuals have accepted," the statement said.