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Protesters continue to push for defunding Seattle Police Department by 50%

As the Seattle City Council starts to take votes on SPD's budget, protesters continue to march and make their voices heard, demanding change.

SEATTLE — Protesters gathered by the hundreds outside the King County Juvenile Detention Center on 12th Avenue Wednesday to reiterate their core demands. 

Protesters said the center has become a symbol for the change they say is needed.

"Because the fight to defund SPD and close the youth jail are connected," said one protester. 

The group of protesters is holding strong to a handful of core demand that was born out of the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP) zone. They want a 50% cut to the Seattle Police Department's budget and want the money to be redirected to social services. 

"Council members will start taking votes today to defund what’s left of SPD’s 2020 budget and we need to make sure they vote the right way," the protester continued.

The march Wednesday started at the Juvenile Detention Center and went to Seattle City Hall. 

Over the last few days, protesters have been marching for their cause and making their voices heard. On Tuesday night, a group marched to Councilmember Debora Juarez's neighborhood in Lake City. On Sunday, protesters showed up at SPD Chief Carmen Best's home in Snohomish County.

Protesters said they'll continue to put pressure on the mayor and council until a final vote, which could come later this month. 

"I feel like there is so much more conversation…I think that people are starting to get it. And I think even my son is feeling like 'you know, there might be some revolution in the air,'" said Erika Walther, a Seattle resident who brought her teenage son to the march.

RELATED: Seattle committee to vote on police budget cuts Wednesday

RELATED: Protesters say they were met with guns at Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best's home

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