Chop Going Down

[lakelandman]

Grab some popcorn guys this gonna be good.

SEATTLE (AP) — Faced with growing pressure to crack down on an “occupied” protest zone following two weekend shootings, Seattle’s mayor said Monday that officials will move to wind down the blocks-long span of city streets taken over two weeks ago that President Donald Trump asserted is run by “anarchists."

Mayor Jenny Durkan said at a news conference that the violence was distracting from changes sought by thousands of peaceful protesters seeking to address racial inequity and police brutality. She said the city is working with the community to bring the “Capitol Hill Occupied Protest” zone to an end.

“The cumulative impacts of the gatherings and protests and the nighttime atmosphere and violence has led to increasingly difficult circumstances for our businesses and residents,” Durkan said. “The impacts have increased and the safety has decreased.”

A shooting Sunday night was the second in less than 48 hours at the edge of the zone, named for the Capitol Hill neighborhood near downtown that emerged during nationwide protests over the police killing of George Floyd.

The 17-year-old victim, who was shot in the arm, declined to speak with detectives, police said. Gunfire early Saturday left a 19-year-old man dead and another person critically wounded. It was not apparent if the shootings had anything to do with the protest.

Protesters cordoned off the several-block area, known as CHOP, near a police station after clashes with officers. Seattle riot squads unleashed tear gas, pepper spray and flash-bangs on large crowds of mostly peaceful protesters, drawing condemnation from many city leaders and a federal court order temporarily banning the use of the weapons on demonstrators.

America Protests Seattle
A 1970's-era poster of activist Angela Davis hangs at a boarded up and closed Seattle police precinct Sunday, June 21, 2020, in Seattle, where streets are blocked off in what has been named the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest zone. Police pulled back from several blocks of the city's Capitol Hill neighborhood near the Police Department's East Precinct building earlier in the month after clashes with people protesting the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after being restrained by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Elaine Thompson
After police largely abandoned the East Precinct building, protesters took over the area — with demonstrators painting a large “Black Lives Matter” mural on the street, handing out free food, playing music and planting a community garden. Its existence incensed Trump, who criticized Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, both Democrats.

Peacefulness has prevailed during the day. On Monday, people lounged on the turf at a park, while volunteers handed out food, water and toiletries. Artists painted designs on wooden barricades, and a few candles burned in front of a sign on the police precinct listing people killed by officer.

At night, however, the atmosphere becomes more charged, with demonstrators marching and openly armed volunteer guards keeping watch. Among the demands are calls to shift funding for police to community health or other social justice causes.

Durkan said she planned to announce a plan Monday for addressing public safety in the area.

“After days of peaceful demonstrations, two nights of shootings have clearly escalated the situation on Capitol Hill,” Durkan's office said in a statement. “We have been meeting with residents and small business owners to address their safety and disorder concerns, including the ability of first responders to access emergencies in the area. ... As many community groups are also urging, (the) Mayor believes individuals can and should peacefully demonstrate, but the message cannot be lost in the violence."

Volunteer medics inside the zone brought the victims of Saturday's shooting to the hospital rather than wait for the police and fire departments, who were preparing to respond before entering.

Demonstrators who had marched to the West Precinct police building downtown were returning to the zone when Sunday night's shooting occurred, police said. The 17-year-old was treated and released from the hospital and wouldn't speak with police, the department said. Investigators urged anyone with information to come forward.

Andre Taylor, who founded of the anti-police-shooting organization Not This Time! after his brother was killed by Seattle police in 2016, said Monday that he had warned protest organizers that the city would need to retake the area because of the violence.

“That CHOP area is attracting this kind of activity and it's unsafe,” Taylor said in a Facebook video. “I told them, 'All those people that were supporting you guys, they're going to start walking away from you, especially all those white people that were following you. ... They don't want to be associated with any part of that violence.”

Former U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert, a Republican who previously served as sheriff in the county where Seattle is located, also called on the city to take back control.

“Elected officials have abandoned the rule of law and their oath to protect and defend our communities,” he wrote in an opinion piece for Washington State Wire, a website devoted to state political news. “They have abandoned their law-abiding citizens and have been cowardly bullied into surrendering the East Precinct – and multiple city blocks.”
https://www.kptv.com/general/seattle-to ... 0e9c9.html

[Tenzing_Norgay]

From the Seattle Times:

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan said Monday that the Seattle Police Department will be returning to its abandoned East Precinct building “peacefully and in the near future,” following a weekend in which three people were shot in the protest area that has emerged around the building.

Durkan said the city would attempt to phase down nighttime activity in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area, known as CHOP or CHAZ, but would not be using police to clear the zone. Rather, Durkan said, they’d ask people to leave the area voluntarily at night, offering resources for those going through homelessness and working with community groups to try to cajole people to leave the area, where dozens of tents have sprouted up in recent weeks, along with couches, guerrilla gardens and graffiti.

Aww...isn't that nice. They're going to "cajole" them.

[lakelandman]

So lame.

[Bmup]

Cut off the water & electricity in the whole area for a month. Anyone who can prove residency can temporarily move into the nearest shelter facility to wait it out in safety & relative comfort. Open carrying will be acceptable for anyone who can pass a basic NICS check or has a CC license from any state in the US. Looters will be shot on sight. Curfew begins at noon. Did I miss anything?

We're all just fed up with this BS. Theft, vandalism and arson are NOT 1st Amendment rights.

/rant

[Grip Hugger]

That's taking it back. Just ask them, they will leave. Smh

[BerettaRacer]

Delta force from the north,
Seals from the south,
Rangers from the east,
Combat Vet Nat Guards from the west,
Meet in the middle for BBQ

[Firemedic2000]

Nah. 2nd RANGER Batt right there in Washington state just send them in with a few gun jeeps and some snipers. Screw the police with their tear gas. Because I bet you if the police go in. From I we've seen with the weapons being handed out.

Those friggin radicals of love just might open fire on the cops. Honestly who knows what will happen. One things for sure they will not just leave because that idoit mayor asked them to. Plus it's going to be real interesting to see the show when L.E. starts going in firing gas.

Remember though this Mayor said if any violence broke out. It was more than likely because of right wing extremist and Trump's fault.

[n0rlf]

There is that annoying little paper I read. Prevents The use of the ranger battalion, which sadly these days is not what it used to be, from being deployed. Let us not stoop to this levels. Yet. Close mind you, but not quite yet.

[Chigger]

Durkan said the city would attempt to phase down nighttime activity in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area, known as CHOP or CHAZ, but would not be using police to clear the zone. Rather, Durkan said, they’d ask people to leave the area voluntarily at night, offering resources for those going through homelessness and working with community groups to try to cajole people to leave the area, where dozens of tents have sprouted up in recent weeks, along with couches, guerrilla gardens and graffiti.

Can't stop laughing at the shear stupidity of politicians. Let's hold hands and sing Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.

No military, send in Polk County Grady Judd and his deputies.

Love watching his tv spots.

[n0rlf]

Durkan said the city would attempt to phase down nighttime activity in the Capitol Hill Organized Protest area, known as CHOP or CHAZ, but would not be using police to clear the zone. Rather, Durkan said, they’d ask people to leave the area voluntarily at night, offering resources for those going through homelessness and working with community groups to try to cajole people to leave the area, where dozens of tents have sprouted up in recent weeks, along with couches, guerrilla gardens and graffiti.

Can't stop laughing at the shear stupidity of politicians. Let's hold hands and sing Michael Row Your Boat Ashore.

No military, send in Polk County Grady Judd and his deputies.

Love watching his tv spots.

Judd is a big TV loud mouth. But I do like that he does know how to back his officers. He does make it known not to mess with his deputies. But still has lots of crime in his own backyard. But I tend to agree they needed to just go in and clean house. Arrest then all and sort them out as time allows. Anything less just plays into the hands of the rioters.

And the boat sank so there is no rowing to shore. There politicians sank it the minute they gave ground. Dummies