Members of the Seattle, Washington Parks and Recreation department, along with city police, on Wednesday removed a community garden planted in Cal Anderson Park as part of the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests.
City officials said in a statement that the “makeshift” temporary garden was being removed due to public health and safety concerns, as well as for maintenance reasons, including reseeding and grass restoration.
Wednesday’s efforts also included the removal of tent encampments located near the garden and outside the park along E. Olive Street, which city officials said was to ensure public spaces remain clean and open to everyone.
So far this year, the city’s Unified Care Team has cleared encampments at Cal Anderson Park 76 times, making the park one of the areas of the city most frequently targeted by repopulated encampments, said the city.
City officials also said the temporary garden has created unsafe conditions for people enjoying the park.
City officials said in a statement that the “makeshift” temporary garden was being removed. fake images
Examples of incidents include vandalism in the park’s public restrooms, public drug use, unauthorized camping, and a growing rodent population.
The Seattle Times reported that Seattle Parks planned to act in October, although the city received pushback from Black Star Farmers, a group that managed the garden.
In fact, the group requested more than 5,000 signatures from people against the park’s removal, citing that the garden honors Black and Indigenous people killed by police.
The community garden was planted in Cal Anderson Park as part of the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020. Getty Images
The opposition also claimed that the park provides community members with a place for joy and healing, as plants such as amaranth, tobacco, corn, currants, strawberries and more grow there.
Still, Seattle Parks said the park needed to be removed so it could be used for other reasons.
Located in the “Sun Bowl” area of the park, the park offers meeting and event space and is close to power and water hookups.
The garden was being removed for public health and safety reasons, as well as for maintenance purposes, including reseeding and grass restoration. fake images
The publication reported that garden supporters watched as construction vehicles ransacked the park guarded by park rangers and police.
A passerby said he had not been warned of the removal, but showed up to save some of the plants.
Seattle Parks said it has conducted community engagement with park visitors, neighbors and adjacent businesses near the garden since 2020 and received “significant” feedback showing a desire to relocate the garden elsewhere in the park.
The department also said it has been in communication with community activists since 2020, offering alternative locations for the garden, although neither location was acceptable to garden organizers.
The city said it “remains committed to an ongoing dialogue to produce an alternative garden site.”
Several community leaders weighed in on the garden’s removal, including elected council member Joy Hollingsworth, who said parks must be maintained to be safe, clean and welcoming.
A protester adjusts a makeshift barrier created to replace barriers removed by city crews at an entrance to the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) on June 30, 2020 in Seattle. fake images
“Cal Anderson Park is the living room of the Capitol and a focal point of our city,” Hollingsworth said. “It is important that we prioritize sanitary conditions within shared public spaces so our neighborhoods can continue to thrive.”
Some people didn’t know there was a memorial garden for victims of deadly force by police, including Katrina Johnson, cousin of Charleena Lyles, who was shot and killed by Seattle police officers Steven McNew and Jason Anderson.
The two officers claim Lyles cornered them in his kitchen while brandishing a small knife.
One person carries a newly placed park closure sign while another builds a makeshift barrier to replace barriers removed by city crews at an entrance to the area known as the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) on June 30, 2020 in Seattle. fake images
“Making a garden without reaching out to the families and even letting them know tells me that these are not our loved ones, but rather people hijacking the movement and trying to make a name for themselves from our pain, and that is just not right.” Johnson said in a statement posted on the city website.
Darrell Powell, president of the Seattle, King County NAACP, said the garden was supposed to be a memorial to black lives lost to police violence.
Instead, he said, it has become anything but.
“The Black community is unaware of the existence of the garden, and the garden does not represent any meaningful meaning, the large number of Black lives extinguished by police violence,” Powell said. “The Seattle-King County NAACP supports Mayor Bruce Harrell and his administration to establish true representation that commemorates Black lives lost to police violence.”
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Source: vtt.edu.vn