Homeless advocates, neighbors clash at Bellingham mayor’s home
Neighbors creating a protective line around Bellingham Mayor Seth Fleetwood’s South Hill home Saturday afternoon, March 13, met several dozen black-clad protesters chanting slogans about Black Lives Matter and housing for the homeless.
Protesters left after about 30 minutes.
Protesters screamed obscenities at neighbors and at least two protesters punched neighbors and a Bellingham Herald reporter. Injuries appeared to be minor.
“We’re just here to support the mayor,” neighbor Dr. Michael Thorpe said. “The place to protest is City Hall. Did they really improve the situation?”
“We don’t object to their right to protest, but do it in an appropriate manner,” Thorpe said. “Their right to protest ends when they turned into vandals.”
One protester used a black sheet hung between two poles to try and stop people from photographing the event. Others used chalk and spray paint to write slogans on 17th Street.
Bellingham Occupied Protest had called on social media this week for people to meet at noon at Lowell Elementary School to march to Fleetwood’s home. It called for people to bring chalk and noisemakers.
The mayor was not home during the protest.
“Mayor Fleetwood had a fairly full schedule of city business today. He toured the newly remodeled Central Library, visited the new Community Vaccination Center at Bellingham Technical College, viewed a virtual opening and blessing ceremony hosted by the Whatcom Museum for the new Matika Wilbur exhibition, and visited the Museum’s Lightcatcher building to see her photographs,” according to Janice Keller, Mayor’s Office communications director.
“He was informed about the activities in his neighborhood and near his house,” Keller wrote in an email responding to Herald questions. “We encourage those who wish to engage with city elected officials to contact them via their offices at Bellingham City Hall. Contact information for all City officials and departments is posted on the City website at cob.org/contacts.”
Bellingham Occupied Protest has posted on social media that it demands amnesty for those arrested or under investigation for acts at earlier protests, housing for unsheltered people and no sweeps of homeless encampments.
Residents of a tent encampment at the Frank Geri Softball Fields near Fraser and Puget streets have until Tuesday, March 16, to leave or they will be removed by Public Works, Fleetwood said Monday, March 8.
Several dozen tents and temporary shelters of pallets and other material were erected on the field Jan. 28 after a previous encampment was dismantled and its occupants ousted from the lawns at City Hall and the Public Library, according to earlier stories in The Herald.
Five people were arrested in an hours-long confrontation between police in riot gear and masked protesters as supporters of Camp 210, as it was called, helped campers move and the city disposed of trash and collected salvageable belongings.
This story was originally published March 13, 2021 at 2:51 PM.
