Seattle police make arrests at counterprotest to 'Mayday USA' event in Capitol Hill
The Brief
Counterprotesters gathered on Capitol Hill on Saturday against a Mayday USA event.
Initial altercations with police led to several arrests.
Community groups stayed at Cal Anderson Park to demonstrate against what they describe as an anti-trans, anti-LGBTQ+ and far-right organization coming to town on Saturday.
SEATTLE - A counterprotest to "Mayday USA" kicked off at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Cal Anderson Park in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Altercations between police, event organizers, attendees and counterprotesters has led to several arrests.
Big picture view
Community organizations and activists are taking to the park to counter Mayday USA's event, which they call a "well-funded anti-trans, anti-queer event that is led by far-right Christian activists."
Seattle police have made several arrests at the Mayday USA event as of Saturday afternoon. Counterprotestors are showing up under the theme of "Keep Your Bibles Off Our Bodies."
Local perspective
One of the prominent supporters of Mayday USA is former Spokane Valley state representative Matt Shea, of the "On Fire Ministries," according to the Radical Women Seattle.
Mayday USA organizers have set up a tour of five cities in the country, with Saturday's event being held in what is considered the heart of the LGBTQ+ community in Seattle on Capitol Hill.
Organizers of the counterprotest say they will bring signs and banners to the picket line to demonstrate the following action items listed in a press release ahead of the Mayday USA event:
Stop the War on Trans & Queer Folk
Empower Youth to Speak, Define & Defend Themselves
Defend Bodily Autonomy & Abortion Rights
Stand Against the Racist Christian Identity Movement
Defeat Trump, Musk, & Project 2025
What they're saying
"We are encouraging everyone to come out and show their solidarity," said Freedom Socialist Party leader Doreen McGrath, whose organization is endorsing the picket. "Attacks of this kind need to be met with protest every time." Other endorsers include Organized Workers for Labor Solidarity, Puget Sound Mobilization for Reproductive Justice, and Radical Women.
The Source
Information for this story came from the Radical Women Seattle organization.
Luxury Seattle hotel sues 'nuisance' building next door
Firefighters in western WA train for possibility of 'above average' wildfire season
Shawn Kemp lawyers claim bias in Tacoma Mall shooting case as trial nears
Federal judge blocks Trump's dismantling of the Department of Education
'Where is Teekah?': Mother speaks out after Tacoma, WA cold case
Activist marks 2 weeks in tree to protest logging near Port Angeles
Driver arrested after deadly crash in Kent, WA
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
11 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fight over lumber tariffs could reshape future of US home building
Lumber is in the spotlight as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and the U.S. Lumber Coalition disagree over what's behind the U.S. housing market slump. FOX Business correspondent Kelly Saberi reported Monday that the NAHB has pointed to tariff uncertainty and lumber prices as being partly responsible. The U.S.'s current anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duty on imported Canadian softwood lumber stands at 14.5%. It could potentially climb later in the year to nearly 35%. Canada's softwood lumber makes up roughly 85% of America's imports and almost a quarter of the U.S. supply, according to the NAHB. "I share President Trump's desire to create fair and balanced trade across our borders, certainly would bring back as much production as we can," NAHB CEO Jim Tobin said. "But until we do that, and it will take years and millions of dollars of investment, we need to make sure that we have a reliable, affordable source of lumber." Saberi reported that the U.S. Lumber Coalition "says that the price of lumber says something different about this story." Read On The Fox Business App Between May 2021 and April of this year, the random lengths framing composite price decreased 67%, she reported. It stood at $442 per 1,000 board feet as of May 23, per the NAHB. Meanwhile, the price of new homes has gone up 21%, Saberi reported. "Everything from regulatory costs to the cost of land and, quite frankly, also the cost of home builder profitability rates that have gone up, those are actually the driving forces of home affordability," U.S. Lumber Coalition executive director Zoltan van Heyningen told FOX Business. "Lumber just isn't one of them." Click Here To Read More On Fox Business The U.S. Lumber Coalition has also been critical of Canada, saying that "ongoing unfair trade practices" by its lumber industry have been "extremely harmful to U.S. lumber producers, workers, and their forest-dependent communities." John Kalabich, the owner of Acme Lumber in Chicago, told Saberi he was able to keep prices relatively flat over the past 12 months because of the duty on Canadian lumber. He has also heard from contractors that the demand for small repair work and big-ticket construction has gone down. Trump Issues Executive Orders Addressing Lumber Production, National Security Concerns Last month, the U.S. Census Bureau said single-family housing starts suffered a 2.1% decline from March to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 927,000 in April. Sales of new single-family homes in April came in at a seasonally adjusted rate of 743,000, while sales of existing ones were 3.63 article source: Fight over lumber tariffs could reshape future of US home building
Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Shares dither, dollar falls as trade angst persists
By Rae Wee SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Asia shares edged cautiously higher on Tuesday while the dollar fell to a six-week low as erratic U.S. trade policies clouded over markets and investors turned defensive ahead of key developments later in the week. U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will likely speak this week, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Monday, days after Trump accused China of violating an agreement to roll back tariffs and trade restrictions. The call between the two leaders will be closely watched by markets to see if the tariff-induced blow to global stocks and the dollar this year could get some reprieve or ratchet up, as trade tensions between the world's two largest economies simmer. Data on Monday showed U.S. manufacturing contracted for a third straight month in May and suppliers took the longest time in nearly three years to deliver inputs amid tariffs. "The May ISM showed tariff pressure is beginning to bite for manufacturers who are seeing slowing activity, longer lead times and declining inventories," said economists at Wells Fargo. China's factory activity in May also shrank for the first time in eight months, a private-sector survey showed on Tuesday, indicating U.S. tariffs are starting to hurt manufacturers. The gloomy global trade situation left U.S. futures falling early in the Asian session, failing to sustain the slight gains made during the cash session on Wall Street overnight. Nasdaq futures and S&P 500 futures were both down 0.2% each. In Europe, EUROSTOXX 50 futures advanced 0.28% and FTSE futures added 0.15%. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan reversed early losses to last trade 0.6% higher, while Japan's Nikkei rose 0.66%. "Trump really does have sentiment in the palm of his hands once again," said Matt Simpson, senior market analyst at City Index. "I suspect we'll hear about 'a really great call' or words to the effect," he said, referring to the expected call between Trump and Xi. "But we'll need to wait for confirmation from China, who tends to take their time on these matters. Until we get concrete confirmation, price action could be shaky and vulnerable to false also have the June 4 deadline for 'best trade deals' from U.S. trading partners to factor in." In China, mainland markets returned from an extended break on a muted note, with the CSI300 blue-chip index up 0.23% while the Shanghai Composite Index gained 0.3%. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped more than 1%, rebounding from Monday's one-month low. PAYROLLS ON DECK The dollar fell to a six-week low against a basket of currencies to 98.58 on Tuesday, ahead of Friday's U.S. nonfarm payrolls data, which will offer a timely reading on the pulse of activity in the world's largest economy. A rise in unemployment is one of the few developments that could get the Federal Reserve to start thinking of easing policy again, with investors having largely given up on a cut this month or next. The euro scaled a six-week top earlier in the session before paring some of its gains to last trade at $1.1426, while sterling dipped 0.09% to $1.3532. A softer U.S. jobs report would be a relief for the Treasury market, where 30-year yields continue to flirt with the 5% barrier as investors demand a higher premium to offset the ever-expanding supply of debt. [US/] The Senate this week will start considering a tax-and-spending bill that will add an estimated $3.8 trillion to the federal government's $36.2 trillion in debt. "The evidence suggests term premium being re-priced considerably higher to account for U.S. fiscal, trade, credit, and geoeconomic risks alongside some hedge against (U.S. dollar) debasement," said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho. The dollar was up 0.35% against the yen at 143.20, reversing some of its 0.9% decline from the previous session. Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said on Tuesday it is important to make policy judgements without any preset ideas as uncertainty over global tariff policies remains extremely high. In commodities, oil prices rose on concerns about supply, with Brent crude futures climbing 0.88% to $65.20 a barrel, while U.S. crude surged 1% to $63.13 per barrel. [O/R] Spot gold rose to a roughly one-month high of $3,392.03 an ounce. [GOL/] Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data


CNN
18 minutes ago
- CNN
‘We have to take what we can get right now": House Republican chair on budget package
House Republican Chairwoman and Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain joined "The Situation Room" to discuss Trump's spending bill, which the House has passed and the Senate is taking up starting this week.