Protesters against new youth jail block downtown Seattle intersection

ctivists against a new youth jail in Seattle are locked together in the middle of a busy downtown Seattle intersection, making a dramatic scene Friday morning.

Supporters of the No New Youth Jail campaign have shut down the intersection of Fourth Avenue and James Street in front of King County Executive Dow Constantine's office.

Traffic is being rerouted and multiple Metro bus routes are affected.

A half-dozen or so protesters are lying on the ground, some with blankets to keep warm. Their arms -- which are inside metal tubes -- are locked together so that police will have to cut them open if they plan on taking them to jail.

Other protesters are holding signs and singing. Some read, "Dow: Your jail is racist," "white silence = violence," "build new homes, not jails," "Dow, you can do better," "stop caging kids," and "cancel the jail."

Protesters say they want Constantine to put a stop to the construction of the new youth jail and courts at 12th and Alder, which the county says is desperately needed because the current facility is deteriorating.

Activists say the current jail is only 25 years old and that a county analysis of the facility said it was "generally in good condition."

Jail opponents say the construction is a “unnecessary, harmful, and undeniably racist jail building project,” reasoning that youth jails disproportionately affect black children.

The group says it wants to change the conversation about youth imprisonment and wants the county to adopt a goal of zero detention for youth.

It says it has been fighting the construction for the last five years and that it is backed by more than 60 organizations.

The facility will cost about $210 million to build. The group says that King County voters were misled when they were voting for it.