On the BLM-Antifa Nation, Seattle

 

Christopher Rufo just published an excellent piece in City Paper on the failed city of Seattle’s capitulation to a thousand rioting thugs in Capitol Hill. For a little background, I will refer you to the tourism page for Capitol Hill here. The title is “The vibrant center of Seattle’s LGBTQ community offers endless entertainment, morning till night.” and, naturally, pushes the vacation destination angle with overpriced food, overpriced shops, and overpriced lodging situated in a dank and rainy climate.

By this point, I doubt many tourists were caught in the occupation. Only fools would be vacationing in Blue cities at this point. Rufo sets the stage for us:

For the past week, Black Lives Matter and Antifa-affiliated activists have engaged in a pitched battle with Seattle police officers and National Guard soldiers in the neighborhood, with the heaviest conflict occurring at the intersection of 11th and Pike, where law enforcement had constructed a barricade to defend the Seattle Police East Precinct building. Hoping to break through the barricade, protesters attacked officers with bricks, bottles, rocks, and improvised explosive devices, sending some officers to the hospital. At the same time, activists circulated videos of the conflict and accused the police of brutality, demanding that the city cease using teargas and other anti-riot techniques.

Then, in a stunning turn of events, the City of Seattle made the decision to abandon the East Precinct and surrender the neighborhood to the protesters. “This is an exercise in trust and de-escalation,” explained Chief Carmen Best. Officers and National Guardsmen emptied out the facility, boarded it up, and retreated. Immediately afterward, Black Lives Matter protesters, Antifa black shirts, and armed members of the hard-Left John Brown Gun Club seized control of the neighborhood, moved the barricades into a defensive position, and declared it the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone—even putting up a cardboard sign at the barricades declaring “you are now leaving the USA.”

On the new rebel state’s first night, the atmosphere was festive and triumphant. Hooded men spray-painted the police station with slogans and anarchist symbols, renaming it the “Seattle People’s Department East Precinct.” Raz Simone, a local rapper with an AK-47 slung from his shoulder and a pistol attached to his hip, screamed, “This is war!” into a white-and-red megaphone and instructed armed paramilitaries to guard the barricades in shifts. Later in the night, Simone was filmed allegedly assaulting multiple protestors who disobeyed his orders, informing them that he was the “police” now, sparking fears that he was becoming the de facto warlord of the autonomous zone. A homeless man with a baseball bat wandered along the borderline and two unofficial medics in medieval-style chain mail stood ready for action.

This is war? Clearly, their target was chosen for the lush accommodations and the fine restaurants. This is summer camp for traitors and gangsters. This is nothing that would give the Screaming Eagles a moment’s difficulty. They know the Hamas playbook cold already, and these guys are not even a Hamas-level A-team. This is about a mayor, Jenny Durkan, who somehow thinks her surrender here will be remembered as Trump’s America when voters vote in less than five months.

[A] coalition of black activists associated with the autonomous zone released a more specific list of demands, including the total abolition of the Seattle Police Department, the retrial of all racial minorities serving prison time for violent crimes, and the replacement of the police with autonomous “restorative/transformative accountability programs.” Activists pledged to maintain control of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone until their demands are met—setting the stage for a long-term occupation and the establishment of a parallel political authority.

The city government has not developed a strategic response to the takeover of Capitol Hill. According to one Seattle police officer with knowledge of internal deliberations, the city’s “leadership is in chaos” and “the mayor has made the decision to let a mob of 1,000 people dictate public safety policy for a city of 750,000.” The officer said that Chief Best had dispatched high-ranking police officials to the autonomous zone to establish a line of communication, but the officials were immediately sent away by armed paramilitaries at the barricades. “The tide of public opinion is on the side of the activists and they’re pushing the envelope as far as they can,” said the officer. “It’s not hyperbolic to say the endgame is anarchy.”

Seattle is getting the government they deserve, good and hard.

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  1. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    cdor (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) (View Comment):

    Dotorimuk (View Comment):
    When considering food donations, remember, a sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal.

    Decades of work and these chumps are the best Hamas and the Nation of Islam could put together. The murders and looting have been heartbreaking, the destruction of lives and neighborhoods for decades to come, but the only reason these guys are still at it is enabler yo-yos like Mayor Jenny.

    This is where I am at. While we joke about these thugs’ inability to think past their noses, they still are capable of cracking open our skulls with their favorite technique…a blind shot from behind with brass knuckles. They still manage to acquire and detonate Molotov cocktail-like explosives that ruin people’s lives and livelihoods. The short response, they aren’t funny, they are dangerous criminals. They aren’t cute little teenagers testing their adulthood, they are vicious and evil destructors of anything of value. I would love to see a national coordinated roundup, even if Amazon gets sued for hundreds of billions for breach of contract on facial recognition, Put an end to this rioting the sooner the better. Peaceful protests in the daytime are fine. Burning property at night absolutely not allowed.

    Do we have any concrete information on these marauding anarchists? Anything that will permit them to be prosecuted, or stopped without bombing the city? 

    • #61
  2. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Jon1979 (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) (View Comment):

    Dotorimuk (View Comment):
    When considering food donations, remember, a sandwich is a sandwich, but a Manwich is a meal.

    Decades of work and these chumps are the best Hamas and the Nation of Islam could put together. The murders and looting have been heartbreaking, the destruction of lives and neighborhoods for decades to come, but the only reason these guys are still at it is enabler yo-yos like Mayor Jenny.

    This is where I am at. While we joke about these thugs’ inability to think past their noses, they still are capable of cracking open our skulls with their favorite technique…a blind shot from behind with brass knuckles. They still manage to acquire and detonate Molotov cocktail-like explosives that ruin people’s lives and livelihoods. The short response, they aren’t funny, they are dangerous criminals. They aren’t cute little teenagers testing their adulthood, they are vicious and evil destructors of anything of value. I would love to see a national coordinated roundup, even if Amazon gets sued for hundreds of billions for breach of contract on facial recognition, Put an end to this rioting the sooner the better. Peaceful protests in the daytime are fine. Burning property at night absolutely not allowed.

    It’s a serious issue, especially if the radicals decided they can do this not just in Seattle, but in every deep Blue city in a deep Blue state in the country, because the mayors and governors are too feckless to act. The ‘fun’ part is watching how this plays out, because now that Trump has come out and issued a warning to officials to take care of the CHAZ problem or he’ll send in federal troops, the Pavlovian reaction to oppose Trump has set in, resulting in this absurd Twitter thread, where the mayor of Seattle and the Washington State governor are supporting the leader of the occupiers:

    the irony of Inslee saying Trump can’t govern? 

    It is like these idiots signed a contract to write Trump campaign ads. 

    • #62
  3. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) (View Comment):

    Hoyacon (View Comment):

    This is somewhat reminiscent of when Occupy Wall St. (remember them?) “took over” McPherson Square, a formerly nice park in central D.C. For a brief while, things went swimmingly, with food donations and a tent city that had a used book store and “teach-ins.” WaPo’s architecture critic even wrote a long and fawning article on the whole thing. Then, needless to say, things went south, deteriorated quickly, and the park was ruined. The cost to put it back together was enormous, but, by then. the media had “lost interest.”

    Except they are patrolling the perimeter with “assault” rifles.

    Again, with the complete hypocrisy: Wall. Guns. 

    I’ll repeat, these a$$holes are writing Trump campaign adds for free. 

    • #63
  4. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Ontheleftcoast (View Comment):

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    t’s a serious issue, especially if the radicals decided they can do this not just in Seattle,

    Funny you should mention that. Project Veritas’ latest video has dropped, and it’s about where the money comes from.

    Andy Zee’s “ResistFa” is an offshoot of the Revolutionary Communist Party.

    Talk about white privilege. 

    and how about the slogan

    DefundFascists

    make it short: DefundFa

    • #64
  5. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    TBA (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Linus Poindexter (View Comment):

    Headedwest (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Where does their food come from?

    Well, it’s not going perfectly:

    You know, the decision for police to abandon the area might have been a stroke of genius after all! Things are developing in a perfectly predictable way, but I’m surprised it’s happening so quickly.

    Between the lack of food and local “warlords” taking over in lieu of the police, the situation is certainly providing a cold, hard dash of reality for anyone paying attention.

    But…will the media let accurate information out?

    We could use some people on the inside.

    That is a very good question. Sigh.

    Send drones.

    Drop rat food from drones. 

    • #65
  6. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Aaron Miller (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing): Hoping to break through the barricade, protesters attacked officers with bricks, bottles, rocks, and improvised explosive devices, sending some officers to the hospital.

    Police should respond to deadly force with deadly force. Warn them repeatedly via loudspeaker. Fire warning shots, perhaps. But never tolerate violence.

    Some would say that escalates the situation. Well, look where a defensive posture has led.

    The same principles are true of group defense as of individual defense. Self-defense is not vengeance. It is not an attempt at punishment or retributive justice. It is removing an imminent threat to survival by eliminating the danger, crippling it, or scaring it away.

    Predators should — predators must — fear a just government. The moment a police department was under siege, the FBI and National Guard should have been mobilized with live ammunition.

    This whole scenario is a Pro-Second-Ammendment story. The people in Seattle, even if they don’t agree with these Anarchists, can’t fight back, because most of them have no weapons. It will be interesting to see, once the dust settles what happens with gun sales in Seattle, and Washington State. 

    • #66
  7. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    T-Fiks (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):

    I just can’t believe this is real. Seems like a bad movie…

    It’s not real, at least in terms of the general population in the Puget Sound region. I just read Thursday’s Tacoma News Tribune. There hasn’t been one syllable about the takeover in that paper.

     

    are you saying it is staged? or just pointing out that it doesn’t exist because the media ignores it? 

    part of me believes this whole thing is a honey-pot-trap for Trump. While I’m concerned about what is going on, any military response needs to be carefully delivered.  

     

    • #67
  8. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Instugator (View Comment):
    If we are really vicious we can give them recognition in the UN and set them up with the international monetary fund.

    I think that is too much legitimacy. There are members of the UN who support these maurading anarchists, and would like nothing more than to see this very thing happen in cities across this nation. 

    This is not a game, even if these particular anarchists are fools and pawns, I think there are powerful people behind this. 

    • #68
  9. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Giulietta (View Comment):

    Aaron Miller (View Comment):

    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing): Hoping to break through the barricade, protesters attacked officers with bricks, bottles, rocks, and improvised explosive devices, sending some officers to the hospital.

    Police should respond to deadly force with deadly force. Warn them repeatedly via loudspeaker. Fire warning shots, perhaps. But never tolerate violence.

    Some would say that escalates the situation. Well, look where a defensive posture has led.

    The same principles are true of group defense as of individual defense. Self-defense is not vengeance. It is not an attempt at punishment or retributive justice. It is removing an imminent threat to survival by eliminating the danger, crippling it, or scaring it away.

    Predators should — predators must — fear a just government. The moment a police department was under siege, the FBI and National Guard should have been mobilized with live ammunition.

    I agree with you. I am thinking about something that Douglas Murray brought up towards the end of Ben Shapiro’s Sunday Special a few weeks ago. He mentioned that conservatives and liberals speak on different levels: when liberals talk about resentment and envy, the right goes on about tax loopholes, etc. The emotional chords and tenor are not the same at all. Think of why Obama won in 2008- the whole thing was about hope. There was nothing that McCain could counter that with (well not after picking Sarah Palin). Murray’s suggestion is to counter resentment and envy with aspiration, despair or hope.

    This brings me to my question and concern: where is Trump? Where are the Republican lawmakers? Since Cotton’s op-ed piece, it’s been a long silence. Please correct me if I’m wrong. I’ve heard Tucker Carlson every night excoriating the left-wing posturing, but nothing from the right. Trump has held meetings with black community leaders- that’s fine. But what else has he got? The narrative of the left has to be countered and it feels like there is a void at the top with no one who seems to want to do the heavy lifting, not since Cotton’s op-ed.

    We get to hear BLM and their activist friends using a full array of angry emotional language and there is no counter attack and defense of the country’s values. I really do think Trump has to stand up and say something much more forcefully and soberly about what he’s actually going to do about countering all of this- and not in a tweet. The last time we heard from him publicly, he made the speech in the Rose Garden and then walked to the church. All fine. But it’s been too long now- he’s approaching Obama-like levels of dormancy. Thoughts?

    I’m praying that AG Barr is gathering information to find the center of this ring. The money. Follow the money. Because these little punks in Seattle are just pawns for bigger fish. and funny thing, I bet the big fish aren’t black. 

    • #69
  10. Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) Member
    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing)
    @Sisyphus

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    TBA (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    Weeping (View Comment):

    Linus Poindexter (View Comment):

    Headedwest (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    Where does their food come from?

    Well, it’s not going perfectly:

    You know, the decision for police to abandon the area might have been a stroke of genius after all! Things are developing in a perfectly predictable way, but I’m surprised it’s happening so quickly.

    Between the lack of food and local “warlords” taking over in lieu of the police, the situation is certainly providing a cold, hard dash of reality for anyone paying attention.

    But…will the media let accurate information out?

    We could use some people on the inside.

    That is a very good question. Sigh.

    Send drones.

    Drop rat food from drones.

    Drop rats from drones.

    • #70
  11. Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) Member
    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing)
    @Sisyphus

    The Inslee/Durkan Plan, wait two weeks and they’ll all be dead from Covid. Should have observed social distancing. That will teach you.

    • #71
  12. Full Size Tabby Member
    Full Size Tabby
    @FullSizeTabby

    Being a car guy, I was impressed by this photo (taken from a Fox News report) showing one of the border guards for the “autonomous zone” with a new Range Rover behind him. Did they appropriate (steal) the car, or are the thugs who demand the capitalist system be dismantled so un-self-aware that they don’t recognize that they are the wealthy beneficiaries of the denounced capitalist system?

     

    • #72
  13. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Being a car guy, I was impressed by this photo (taken from a Fox News report) showing one of the border guards for the “autonomous zone” with a new Range Rover behind him. Did they appropriate (steal) the car, or are the thugs who demand the capitalist system be dismantled so un-self-aware that they don’t recognize that they are the wealthy beneficiaries of the denounced capitalist system?

     

    The gun is not cheap either. 

    • #73
  14. Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing) Member
    Sisyphus (hears Xi laughing)
    @Sisyphus

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):
    Did they appropriate (steal) the car, or are the thugs who demand the capitalist system be dismantled so un-self-aware that they don’t recognize that they are the wealthy beneficiaries of the denounced capitalist system?

    They often consider themselves as doing penance for their privilege, abasing themselves before the idols of the covetous. 

    • #74
  15. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    Jules PA (View Comment):
    Drop rat food from drones. 

    Drop rat poison from drones. Reduce the food supply.

    • #75
  16. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    (some of which supposedly have already been shaken down for money by the local warlords)

    Leftwing death squads.

    • #76
  17. Jon1979 Inactive
    Jon1979
    @Jon1979

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    (some of which supposedly have already been shaken down for money by the local warlords)

    Leftwing death squads.

    Plus some others who were just asking to have reality fall down on them…

    • #77
  18. The Reticulator Member
    The Reticulator
    @TheReticulator

    Jon1979 (View Comment):

    The Reticulator (View Comment):

    Jon1979 (View Comment):
    (some of which supposedly have already been shaken down for money by the local warlords)

    Leftwing death squads.

    Plus some others who were just asking to have reality fall down on them…

    To locate something, that would be using the wrong instrument. The electron microscope is good for studying an object close up once you’ve located it.  (And doing a whole bunch of other things to prepare the specimen. I once took a class in electron microscopy, but we didn’t have this thing known as a tunneling electron microscope. We had a scanning electron microscope for things like looking at an insect’s mouthparts, and a transmitting electron microscope to look at smaller, sub-cellular structures.)                            

    I wonder if he would find that interesting. 

    :-)

    • #78
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