Bellevue warming up

From the City of Bellevue 7:10 PM:

Bellevue Mayor Lynne Robinson has declared a civil emergency in the city and signed an emergency order prohibiting weapons in the downtown area where demonstrations from multiple, opposing groups were reported. The Mayor is authorized to “proclaim the existence of a civil emergency whenever a riot, unlawful assembly, or other hostile action, or the imminent threat thereof, occurs in the city and results in or threatens to result in the death or injury of persons or the destruction of or damage to property to such extent as to require, in the judgment of the Mayor, extraordinary measures to protect the public peace, safety and welfare.”

The city has also requested further law enforcement support from surrounding jurisdictions to maintain safety and order for the groups demonstrating and the public. Residents and visitors are advised to avoid the area.

WeaponsBanMapOct2020

Share

6 thoughts on “Bellevue warming up

  1. Interesting. They have a weapons ban. Great. (read fine details) Cannot have “including but not limited to, rocks, bottles, pipes, bats, clubs, chains, sharpened objects, shields, gas, flares, torches, paint balls, light bulbs, any incendiary devices, pry-bars, skateboards, liquid filled balloons, lumber, or any other objects which can be used for infliction of bodily harm or damage to property, if possessed with the intent to cause harm to persons or property”

    Exempts firearms. Uhhhh? I mean, that’s OK, but interesting.

    • including but not limited toor any other objects which can be used for infliction of bodily harm or damage to property, if possessed with the intent to cause harm to persons or property

      Emphasis mine.

      The way I read this, nothing is banned if used, or intended to be used, for normal peaceful everyday purposes. Self-defense might even be allowed (although that is a little vague–perhaps deliberately so).

      However, again according to my reading of it, it would appear that everything is banned for offensive use, vandalism, rioting, or other harm.

      Perhaps I am reading too much reasonableness into the intentions of whoever drafted it.

  2. Is this just meaningless grandstanding, or does that “ban” actually have meaning?

    The way I read it is “illegal things are illegal”. Well, duh. You don’t need the town to say that. Perhaps it means “unlike those clowns in Seattle we’re actually going to throw the book at you if you riot or vandalize things”. If so, ok.

    • I tried to look up what, if any, a declaration of civil emergency means in terms of additional powers the city has. I may not be looking in the right place but I didn’t see anything that was particularly enlightening here.

      The way I read the declaration was, paraphrasing and interpolating some, “If you bring anything to this protest that could be used as a weapon we will assuming you have ill intent and you will be arrested. This is even though on an ordinary day it would be assumed you had no ill intent with the same object and you would be free to go about your business. This does not apply to firearms because reasons.”

      • That’s certainly an interesting interpretation. I don’t see the bit about the presumption in the words quoted earlier, though. Assuming the quote is accurate, it would seem to require the town to show that you had bad intentions, they can’t just assume it.
        Conversely, the “not limited to” would arguably cover firearms. The 2nd Amendment is certainly a good reason for them to try not to say so in plain English, but if they have bad intentions I would expect them to use the “not limited to” trick to try to nail you anyway.

Comments are closed.