Seattle Mardi Gras Riots - Fat Tuesday

Fat Tuesday

Over 4,000 party goers filled the neighborhood and its bars on Tuesday evening. Large crowds began forming in the central plaza at 9:00 pm and eventually spilled into the surrounding streets. The celebrations included drinking, dancing, and women baring their breasts for beads.

Throngs of men began groping the women as the women exposed themselves. Sporadic fighting broke out at about 10:40 pm. Police donned riot gear and formed lines but did not enter the crowd for the most part. Cars were vandalized and overturned. Small fires were set and the windows of business were shattered. Police were notified that young men were pointing firearms and brandishing other weapons towards people. By midnight, groups roved through the crowd randomly attacking people along the stretch of Yesler Way between First and Second Avenues. Paramedics were not able to reach some victims due to the lack of police control in the area.

The police stood by and did nothing as a group assaulted a female teenager; when a bystander, Kris Kime, attempted to protect her, the group beat him to death. Witnesses said Kime was struck and knocked to the ground as he tried to help the frightened woman who had fallen in the melee. Kime died of massive head injuries. About 70 others were reported injured. Two of the injured had gunshot wounds.

At 12:30 am, 25 to 30 young men advanced on a line of police. The police retreated while bottles and other debris were thrown. A team of bicycle officers made a quick charge toward the crowd with pepper spray before retreating again. Fighting escalated with little police interference until shots were fired at 1:30 am. With the assistance of an armored vehicle, police advanced on the crowd with tear gas, pepper spray, and flashbangs. The crowds were finally dispersed shortly after 2:00 am.