Seattle Black Lives Matter Protest May Disrupt Black Friday Shopping

SEATTLE, WA - The downtown shopping district will be busy on Friday with holiday activities like Black Friday shopping, the Macy's parade, and the tree lighting at Westlake.

And in the middle of it all will be a Black Lives Matter protest that may be bigger than past such demonstrations.

Organizer Mohawk Kuzma, 26, told Patch.com that he's getting a lot of interest in this year's planned protest. Black Lives Matter also held protests in 2014 and 2015. He's printed 1,000 Black Lives Matter signs to meet expected demand.

"I'm hoping it'll be bigger than 2014 and 2015 combined," Kuzma told Patch.com. "People should realize that if we don't take our country back against racism now, we'll never take it back."

Kuzma is referencing the recent election of Donald Trump, whose rise to power he says has exposed that racism is alive - and popular - in the U.S. There have been numerous protests in Seattle since Nov. 8 in response to Trump's election.

Seattle Police say they're very prepared for the crowds downtown on Friday, be it for a rally or anything else.

"People are going to see a lot of cops downtown [on Friday]," Seattle Det. Patrick Michaud told Patch.com.

During last year's Black Friday Black Lives Matter protest, demonstrators marched inside the Macy's and Forever 21 stores near Westlake. Kuzma said that the group does indeed aim to disrupt shopping because, he said, human life is more important. He wants shoppers to stop what they're doing and join their movement.

"The question is, don't black lives matter?" Kuzma asked. "If you cared about yourself and other people as much as your shopping, you'd be out here with us."

As of Thursday, just under 3,000 people had indicated they would attend the protest on a Facebook event page. However, Kuzma said he didn't formally promote this year's protest, saying that it spread by word of mouth.

Image via Flickr user Lorie Shaull