The FBI is investigating a Seattle event in which LGBT and Christian activists squared off on Tuesday, with eight people being arrested.
“We have asked our team to fully investigate allegations of targeted violence against religious groups at the Seattle concert,” Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino wrote on X after the May 27 event. “Freedom of religion isn’t a suggestion.”
The investigation comes after an estimated 750 protesters joined dueling demonstrations on Tuesday outside of Seattle’s city hall.
About 500 people were there for the “Rattle in Seattle,” a combination protest and worship event affiliated with Mayday USA, a fundamentalist group that does not support transgender identities, and the #Don’tMessWithOurKids movement.
A smaller group turned out to protest the event, holding signs with slogans like “Trans rights are human rights.”
Eight people in total were arrested for assault during the event, Seattle police said, and no injuries were reported.
“Two opposing groups gathered along 4th Avenue,” the police said in a statement. “Streets around the dueling demonstrations were shut down for several hours, but reopened just before 8 p.m.”
The religious group arrived outside city hall first, and reportedly occupied space behind a barricade along with their private security, partially limiting access to the city hall steps.
“It just so happened that this group came and set up their sound equipment and occupied the area first,” Seattle police Capt. Robert Brown told The Seattle Times.
Video of the event shows dueling groups of demonstrators engaged in arguments with each other, as well as protesters shoving back and forth with police.
The Rattle in Seattle came about in protest of how the city handled another Mayday-affiliated event over the weekend, where 23 people were arrested on Saturday during clashing demonstrations between similar groups at a Christian concert in Cal Anderson Park.
Organizers condemned police handling of the event, as well as comments from Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, who branded the concert a “far-right rally” intending to “provoke a reaction by promoting beliefs that are inherently opposed to our city’s values, in the heart of Seattle’s most prominent LGBTQ+ neighborhood.”
Mayday said the comments were “false accusations and attempts to limit the freedom of Christian worship” in a statement on Instagram.
The group has accused the city of denying a request to hold the original event at Victor Steinbrueck Park, while the city insists it rejected a request to host the original event on a series of streets unable to accommodate the gathering.
“Given that [Cal Anderson Park] was available and met the size/logistic needs available for the event, it was granted,” Harrell spokesperson Callie Craighhead told KUOW. “This is consistent with free speech requirements under the First Amendment.”
Under the Trump administration, the Justice Department has moved away from traditional areas like protecting voting rights and fighting racial discrimination, and has instead prioritized probing the participation of transgender athletes in girls’ and women’s sports and fighting religious bigotry, including alleged anti-Christian bias.
