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Lawless in Seattle
Sleepless in Seattle has morphed into Lawless in Seattle. From the City Journal:
Seattle’s hard-Left secessionist movement has claimed its first territory: six blocks in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
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.”
An exercise in trust and de-escalation did not work too well. There may be some police officers that should be removed from police work, and Chief Carmen Best should be one of them. Seattle now has their very own Warlord running the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone.
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.
Businesses in Capitol Hill are being strong-armed for a $500 fee, payable in cash or Bitcoin to support the revolution. One business owner is hoping that it’s a one-time charge.
A second coup was attempted at city hall.
Politically, the Seattle City Council has already begun to champion the protesters’ demands. Socialist Alternative councilwoman Kshama Sawant declared the takeover a “victory” against “the militarized police force of the political establishment and the capitalist state.” Three councilmembers have signaled support for a 50 percent reduction in the police budget, with additional councilmembers likely to support a similar policy in the coming weeks. Sawant also opened Seattle’s City Hall—which had been closed by the mayor—to protesters, who immediately occupied the building.
Left unsaid was that Kshama Sawant unlocked city hall that was closed due to Covid-19 to allow protestors to occupy it and demand the Mayor resign. Not that I have any empathy for the Mayor. She is a socialist as well, but she was elected by the voters of Seattle, as dim as they might be.
I don’t expect Governor Inslee to be much help in this situation. He and Senator Patty Murray are competing, and in a dead heat for the title of, Dumbest Person in the State of Washington.
Published in Entertainment
This phrase tells you everything you need to know about Seattle.
I posted this elsewhere but it bears repeating here:
That or watch CNN.
These anarchists either mean business or they are playacting.
I’m praying that they have been infiltrated, and someone is on the inside, getting good information.
There are No police. How can they report?
But you’re right, if people are not contradicting the mayor’s block party narrative, what’s anyone to do?
That is improper use of a mask.
I guess she didn’t get the memo.
What about the people in there committing the crimes, who didn’t get the memo that they’re now living in a peoples’ paradise?
“All is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” (Voltaire, from Candide)