In an afternoon press conference today,
Chief Steve Mylett made it clear that his police department is going after the
looters who, on May 31, stole thousands of dollars’ worth of merchandise while
peaceful protestors mourned and protested the death of George Floyd down the street.
And he made it clear that his department will be conducting a long-term investigation
to charge as many looters as possible.
To date, 23 people have been arrested
for the looting. Police have identified 100 others who are being investigated. And
the chief estimated that there could have been 1,000 to 2,000 people in
Bellevue Square that night.
The chief noted the recent arrest
of a 26-year-old Renton man for burglary in relation to that night, plus drug
charges (meth, heroin, cocaine, drug scales, and other paraphernalia consistent
with distributing drugs), possession of dangerous weapons and possession of
stolen property in a joint operation with the Renton Police Department. Laid out
on two tables was merchandise found at the time of arrest amounting to $19,000
and weapons, including an AK-47 with a silencer that was in a baby’s crib, a
Glock handgun, and ammo.
The police department’s success so
far is due to 10,000 pieces of video and other evidence that the department has
been able collect and has been turned over to it.
When asked where the looters came
from, Chief Mylett said that they were mostly from the greater Seattle area and
the region. One person was from Yakima.
The chief again made it clear that
the looters were taking advantage of the protest, describing their conduct as
cloaking themselves as peaceful protestors. This was a well-organized plan,
possibly by people with gang affiliations.
The Bellevue police intelligence
unit notice “chatter” on social media after Seattle imposed a curfew with people
saying in essence that Bellevue does not have a curfew.
The chief revealed the police
department’s priorities to criticism that they did not catch the looters in the
act. Its priorities were to protect life, not have anyone seriously injured and
to protect buildings from arson.
While the looters may think that they
got away with something, this police chief and his department will do the
grinding work to bring them to justice.
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