Seattle activists charged after occupying city hall to demand housing for illegal immigrants

Iris Bordman, Aidan Carroll, Jonathan Duyker, Bennett Haselton, Lauren Kay, and Rosario Lopez Hernandez, were all charged with trespassing after disrupting the meeting with illegal immigrants to demand that the council fund their stay at an area hotel.

Carroll was also charged with obstruction.

They are all well-known, far-left activists in the Seattle area.

The activists were previously bailed out by a notorious anti-police bail fund that even helped release a prolific offender who went on to shoot a cop.

In January, Venezuelan illegal immigrants protested outside of Seattle City Hall during a city council meeting demanding housing after being bounced around the area to various motels in the region by activists before making a plea for help from Seattle.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell paid for a week of hotel rooms for the group after the first protest.

Last month, the City of Seattle agreed to pay for an additional three weeks of rooms for illegal immigrants staying at a Western Washington hotel, even though the location is not in the Emerald City.

Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson told the activists during the meeting that the city has an obligation to taxpayers to provide housing for people in need in Seattle, like the area’s homeless.

She added that discussions about funding for illegal immigrants and refugees needed to happen at the county and state levels because there are limited resources in the Emerald City.

Seattle City Councilmember Cathy Moore said of the protestors screaming out in the hallway and banging on the windows of the chamber while the council was meeting, “I physically feel threatened. We are shutting down the operations of our democracy because of a mob action and it is not to be tolerated.”

Previous Seattle City Council members had routinely let activists control meetings and the agenda.