Another weekend in the CHAZ/CHOP Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone left one dead and another in critical condition. This, after Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan vowed to dismantle the new country that crazed anarchists created. It appears her pleas to persuade the protesters to go home have amounted to nothing, and the crime rages on in a six-block area of downtown Seattle where mayhem and madness rule.
This weekend, two men were shot inside CHOP – one died, and the other is in the intensive care unit at Harborview Medical Center. Let’s not forget that last weekend a man was shot dead and another injured. Thus far, three of the four are listed as teenagers.
Meanwhile, no one is talking. Authorities are unable to ascertain what happened and why in both incidents. In referencing last weekend’s murder, the Seattle police blotter states, “The victim refused to provide any information about the circumstances surrounding the shooting of a suspect description to officers.” With real police held at a distance, no one is in custody for either shooting.
Durkan famously said she didn’t want to dismantle the take-over of the downtown area because it might just be “a summer of love.” When that didn’t turn out to be accurate, she was reduced to negotiating an end to the autonomous zone with CHOP leaders. In an apparent attempt to take back the area, the Seattle Department of Transportation crews showed up with equipment meant to remove the blockades but were thwarted when protesters laid on the ground and would not move. After waiting several hours, the Seattle DOT workers were sent packing.
Mayor Durkan’s lack of initial response and aggressive replies to President Trump to stay out of the messy civil unrest in downtown Seattle have left her with few options. Reasoning with the protesters has not worked, and hoping that they will voluntarily go back to their parents’ basements appears equally pointless.
Meanwhile, people are dying in this lawless autonomous zone, and no one is being arrested in connection with these crimes. The Seattle Times reported on Sunday, June 28, that CHOP organizers want to shift their location from a public park to an abandoned police precinct. Times business reporter Paul Roberts wrote, “Some organizers suggested the park encampment was becoming hard to manage and was hurting efforts to keep political pressure on the city for police reform.” CHOP protesters say the move will “bring the attention and the focus back onto why we’re here … which is to get our demands met,” according to one of the CHOP leaders known as Angelica C.
Seattle authorities have proven feckless against the anarchists. Police have been removed from the area. An entire precinct has been emptied, and President Trump has backed off. It appears there are only two ways forward for Ms. Durkan: Use force to put down the rebellion and disperse the protesters or let the lawlessness continue.
Either way, it’s highly likely more people will die in Seattle’s CHAZ/CHOP zone as the Fourth of July weekend approaches. As such, Mayor Jenny Durkan should expect plenty of fireworks.
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Read more by Leesa K. Donner.
