Comedian and activist Brett Hamil notes that the Seattle Police Department came out for a discussion at the Beacon Hill Library:

Part of #SPD presence on #BeaconHill this weekend for black-led discussion at a LIBRARY (pic by @thestationcafe) pic.twitter.com/Xxm2CgTm1w

— Brett Hamil (@BrettHamil) July 11, 2016

Were all those police there just for a meeting of the Seattle Black Book Club? Apparently. Here's an account of what happened:

Actually @bruceharrell is one to call about this, it happened in HIS district. 206-684-8804 to reach Elusive Bruce pic.twitter.com/Zw6PkbQF3E

— Brett Hamil (@BrettHamil) July 11, 2016

The Seattle Black Book Club describes themselves as "a Black led community organizing group. We focus on the plight of the Black community to alleviate racial opression.We strive for Black liberation." You can read more about them on their Facebook page.

While I encourage everyone in the city to take an interest in literacy and book clubs, I'm going to theorize that the Seattle Police Department's interest in the Seattle Black Book Club might not be of a strictly literary persuasion. Maybe they ought to back off and let people talk about what they want to talk about without escalating the situation?

And further: maybe, just maybe, we should allow book clubs to meet in Seattle without the kind of police coverage we ordinarily see for May Day marches?