Mayor Jenny Durkan of Seattle said on Thursday it would be unconstitutional and illegal for US President Donald Trump to send military forces into the city to clear protesters occupying a neighborhood, as he suggested.

Speaking at an afternoon press conference, Durkan did not say how or when authorities would remove the roughly 500 demonstrators who have established a makeshift encampment behind barricades in the Capitol Hill district.

“It is unconstitutional and illegal to send the military into Seattle,” said Durkan, a first-term Democrat. “There is no imminent threat of an invasion of Seattle.”

Meanwhile, activists have occupied the area since police on Monday moved street barricades and abandoned their East Precinct station in a move city officials say aimed to reduce tension.

Earlier, Seattle’s police chief, Carmen Best, said it was not her decision to leave the precinct.

Major US cities have been convulsed by marches, rallies and sometimes violence for more than two weeks over the death of a black man, 46-year-old George Floyd, while in Minneapolis police custody. A bystander recorded video of the now-dismissed officer holding a knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes.

Source: Reuters