In the days after a chaotic confrontation between police and protesters at a conservative Christian rally on Capitol Hill, several groups have questioned why the demonstration was held at Cal Anderson Park and how the city could have better prepared.
The rally, advocating "freedom from same sex attraction" and "the sacrality of biological gender," was permitted in the heart of the state's most LGBTQ+-friendly neighborhood, in a park named for the state's first openly gay elected official. It attracted scores of protesters who scrapped with police. Twenty-three people were arrested.
Organizers of the rally say the park was not their first choice. But local LGBTQ+ advocates and at least one City Hall politician expressed anger the permit was granted for Cal Anderson, alleging the location was intended to rile the neighborhood's residents.
Ultimately, the group's speech was protected by the First Amendment and went forward.
On Tuesday evening, FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino wrote on X: "We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert. Freedom of religion isn't a suggestion."
Saturday's "Mayday USA" rally was the fourth stop in a five-city tour, dubbed #DontMessWithOurKids. Participants include a collection of conservative evangelical ministers whose views on LGBTQ+ people and abortion are in direct opposition to what's typical on Capitol Hill.
The rally was boosted locally by former state Rep. Matt Shea, who was removed from Washington's Republican caucus by its own members following reports he'd distributed pamphlets extolling the "Biblical Basis for War."
Rally organizers first reached out to the city's Special Events Committee in February. Their first request was to hold the gathering on a portion of Pike Street, between First and Second avenues, according to communications between organizers and the city.
Those behind the tour had broadcast intentions to hold the rally by Pike Place Market for months.
"Kind of a big deal," Ross Johnston, of Ross Johnston Ministries, told a crowd in Portland in February. "Kind of like, 'Yeah, we here (in Seattle).' Kind of like antifa's headquarters."
But the city committee denied the group's request to rally in downtown Seattle. It would have meant closing off local access to the street, and the size of the gathering would be "too large to be safely accommodated at the proposed location," a spokesperson for the committee wrote in a March email. Rather, the group should reach out to the parks department, the spokesperson said.
A parks department employee told them there were several open parks that day, specifically pointing to Cal Anderson and Lake Union parks as places that could host the estimated 500 people.
Representatives for the demonstration also asked the University of Washington about using the campus's Red Square. But in late March, they submitted their permit application for Cal Anderson Park.
"This park was not the first or even the second location that event organizers sought a permit for, but the Seattle Special Events Office suggested it as a suitable alternative," the Mayday USA spokesperson said in a statement.
When asked why they didn't choose Lake Union Park, a Mayday USA spokesperson did not respond.
City officials so far have tried to thread the needle between their First Amendment obligations and their frustration at how the events unfolded.
Callie Craighead, spokesperson for Mayor Bruce Harrell, said the U.S. Constitution requires the city to grant the permit if space allows.
Still, Harrell said he wants the process reviewed.
"While there are broad First Amendment requirements around permitting events under free speech protections, I am directing the parks department to review all of the circumstances of this application to understand whether there were legal location alternatives or other adjustments that could have been pursued," he said over the weekend.
Councilmember Alexis Mercedes Rinck said, "While I respect First Amendment rights, we must also acknowledge the harm caused when hate groups are able to invade spaces meant to celebrate our community's vulnerable populations and lift up their contributions to our city."
University of Washington law professor Robert Gomulkiewicz said the First Amendment is strongest in public places and the ability of governments like Seattle to regulate speech in parks is highly restricted.
"Parks and sidewalks are the quintessential public forum where people have been expressing ideas and protesting since the founding of the country," he said.
Governments can regulate the "time and manner" of speech — like, for example, the viability of Pike Street as a forum — but can't ban it based on viewpoint. Such a right has been affirmed by a broad spectrum of cases over the decades, he said, including those concerning civil rights and Vietnam War protests as well as the Westboro Baptist Church and a neo-Nazi rally in Skokie, Ill.
Although the rally was first publicized in mid-May, Seattle police only reached out to the organizers of the rally last week, the organizers said. Craighead confirmed the Police Department said it only learned of the gathering last week.
The city did not address the event ahead of time. Craighead said that's typical unless widespread street closures are expected.
"Additionally, these kinds of extremist groups want attention, so further publicizing their event would assist their goal," she said.
Parsing the precise order of events at a protest can prove difficult. Police say they cracked down after objects were lobbed at them, while protesters say the response was unprovoked and needlessly brutal. Either way, the clashes unfolded over hours on Saturday, ending in several minor injuries and 23 arrests.
On Tuesday, City Hall heard from a bevy of angry voices from both sides. The city's LGBTQ Commission expressed "deep concern and outrage over the events that unfolded at Cal Anderson Park," saying the group "strategically held its event to provoke a response." The Seattle City Council heard testimony from people angry at its location and the police response.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Seattle City Council passed a resolution reaffirming the city as "welcoming," specifically naming the weekend's rally.
Rally organizers called for more evangelical Christians to descend on City Hall and demanded that Harrell apologize or resign for saying the Christian "extreme-right wing rally" itself stoked the violence, rather than the protesters.
"Seattle deserves better than a radical leftist who tramples on the religious freedoms of citizens while providing cover for violent extremists to abuse police officers, attack Christians, and destroy a city," the group said in a statement.
Harrell rejected their demands.
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