Antifa riot in Tacoma declared unlawful assembly, after vandalism to downtown businesses, vehicles and courthouse

At 7pm on Sunday night, Antifa activists assembled near Frost Park in downtown Tacoma, Washington, to protest the Tacoma police officer who struck two while trying to escape a mob who were attacking his police cruiser on Saturday night. The 29 year veteran of the department was placed on leave pending an investigation.

Following the original incident, Antifa and Black Lives Matter protesters showed up at the scene and Antifa members were seen lighting fires in intersections and worked to prevent people from taking video of their activites.

The Antifa agitators who gathered Sunday night had no intention of a peaceful protest. They immediately gathered garbage cans and created barricades to block intersections while they blasted music through the neighborhood. Antifa members came from Seattle, Portland and elsewhere to riot in Tacoma, and assembled at 9th and Commerce Street. The activists waived Antifa flags and were dressed in their traditional 'black bloc' uniforms.

Earlier in the evening Tacoma Police, who had been monitoring the area for the expected violence, responded to reports of three people in a secure building on the 700 block of Commerce St. trying to access the roof. Officers responded and arrested two people armed with a handgun and knives for first degree burglary. The third person has not been located yet.

A street preacher who was a frequent visitor to Seattle ‘autonomous zone’ was allegedly knocked to the ground. When he got back up, Antifa activists began pointing high powered lasers at his face.

Scuffles broke out among the activists. Some of the activists allegedly assaulted civilians who were nearby.

The agitators lit fires in the streets and blocked traffic. Vehicles assembled to accompany the activists and to block traffic and intersections along the way.

The assembled group of approximately 100-150 agitators, marched towards to Tacoma Courthouse and the Pierce County Jail. As they marched, they vandalized many businesses along the way, shattered windows, burned an American flag and ‘tagged’ surfaces with graffiti.

As the rioters marched, they chanted, but the neighbors were not happy to see them and yelled at them to leave, as the rioters shined flashlights into Tacoma resident’s windows.

When the rioters arrived at the courthouse, the group smashed in the windows of the building as well as windows of vehicles in the parking lot, before continuing to the county jail. Along the way rioters continued to tag surfaces and smash windows of businesses.

Along the way the rioters began looking for the various reporters and citizen journalists who were documenting the riot, and put out calls over social media to find the "chuds" and stop them. Some Antifa activists were dressed as members of the press.

When the group arrived at the county jail, they began shaking the fence of the property before moving on. By that time, police who had assembled nearby began moving in, declared the riot an unlawful assembly and ordered the crowd to disperse.

As of publishing, there had been no arrests for vandalism and the crowd had mostly dispersed while a few stragglers remained. A meeting of the Tacoma City Council is scheduled for Monday to discuss the "discuss the Use of Force Incident at 9th and Pacific Ave" the original incident of the mob that attacked the squad car.  

A significant amount of damage was done to buildings, stores and vehicles by Antifa, the group that President Joe Biden had previously referred to as "just an idea" in an October presidential debate with then President Donald Trump.

This riot follows a resurgence in activity by the Antifa following the inuaguration of President Biden.

This is a developing story.