Seattle descends into May Day violence (VIDEO)

May Day demonstrations turned violent in Seattle on Tuesday, forcing Mayor Mike McGinn to issue an emergency order, KING5 News reported. 

Protesters – believed to be from the Black Bloc – smashed storefront windows, banks and vehicles parked in the downtown core, resulting in numerous arrests.

“It’s unfortunate that you get a very few people that want to cause damage and violence,” police Chief John Diaz said, KING5 reported. “And we’re going to be spending a lot of time and effort to bring those people to justice.”

The emergency order allowed police to confiscate weapons, or items demonstrators could use as weapons, the Seattle Times said. 

Police said demonstrators used smoke bombs, rocks, long poles, hammers and tire irons to inflict damage.

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The protesters defaced property with paint, set off fireworks, and threw homemade incendiary devices, which started a small fire at the US Court of Appeals, the Times reported.

Police responded with pepper spray and batons, making about eight arrests.

More demonstrations were planned for the evening.

It was all-too familiar a scene in Seattle, a city besieged by protests during the 1999 World Trade Organization meetings there.

“What we know from WTO previously is you get a group of people committed to cause damage,” McGinn said at a press conference, the Times reported. “My direction to police is I expect them to respond to law breaking swiftly and aggressively.”

The protests began about noon local time with about 50 marching from Seattle Central Community College.

About 200 people were said to have participated by the time the demonstration reached downtown, with some shedding their black clothing to hide in the crowd.

May Day – a traditional date for pro-labor and immigration groups – and Occupy rallies happened across the country, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Oakland and Portland, Ore., The Associated Press said.

Many of the events were peaceful; however, police used tear gas and flash grenades in Oakland, and faced bricks and pipes in San Francisco.

The Occupy movement attempted to revive its cause, the Washington Post reported.

Some had called for a general strike.

“We need to remind people that what we’re doing is still very relevant and still very important,” Occupy Wall Street's Jackie DiSalvo told the Post. “This is our coming out. We’re calling it our spring awakening.”

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