Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has done everything in her power to minimize the negative impact of CHOP. After referring to the autonomous zone as a block party repeatedly, she has finally decided to change her tune. The communist utopia is not going to survive for much longer, if she has anything to say about it.
Of course, people want to know what took her so long. This is the sort of social experiment that was doomed to fail from the very beginning. Instead of listening to the people who predicted doom and gloom, Durkan and Governor Inslee took this as their opportunity to thumb their noses at conservative thinkers. Now that a series of shootings has taken place in CHOP, Durkan is reconsidering that mindset.
The blood is already on her hands but that does not matter to her. The citizens of Seattle are understandably furious and have decided to pursue legal action. Kshama Sawant is the city Councillor who is now leading the angry mob. Protests have been taking place at the mayor’s home. Now, Durkan is calling for an investigation into Sawant’s ties to terrorism.
When the angry mob took over City Hall a few weeks back, Sawant is the one who is said to have to have let them in. Durkan is tired of her antics and is now looking to have Sawant removed from her post. She is calling for an investigation from the Seattle City Council on the matter. Sawant now stands accused of undermining the safety of others with her actions.
“As leaders of the City, it is incumbent upon all of us to bring people together in one of the City’s most challenging times,” Durkan wrote in the letter addressed to Council President M. Lorena González. “However, I have deep concerns about the continued actions of a Councilmember that I am requesting that you and the Council exercise your duties as described below.”
In the two-page letter, Durkan pointed to Sawant’s actions earlier this month in letting hundreds of protesters fighting against police brutality and systemic racism into City Hall, which she said was closed to the public due the novel coronavirus pandemic. Durkan said Sawant’s actions put the safety of protesters and city workers at risk.
Durkan also accused Sawant of encouraging people at a rally to “illegally occupy City property, the East precinct, at a time the City has been trying to de-escalate the situation and ask individuals to depart because of violence in the area.” Protesters have been occupying the area around the East Precinct, known as CHOP, for weeks now after Seattle police earlier this month left the building and let protesters move freely throughout the area. The city has said SPD will be returning to the building, but has not given a definitive timeline. Some protesters have pledged to remain in the zone until their demands are met.
Other actions Durkan brought up included accusing Sawant of leading a march to her home even though her address was “protected under the state confidentiality program” and of using her office to promote a ballot initiative. Sawant has for the past several months been holding rallies and events around her Tax Amazon movement.
In the letter, Durkan notes the council can “punish or expel a member for disorderly or otherwise contemptuous behavior.”
“The City Council may choose to ignore and dismiss her actions, but I think that undermines public confidence in our institutions,” Durkan said.
In response, Sawant on Tuesday afternoon went after Durkan, saying her leadership has failed working people and communities of color across the city. Sawant called the mayor’s letter an “attack on the grassroots campaigns we’ve participated in and helped lead…and the progressive victories we have all won together.”
“In reality, this is an attack on working people’s movements, and everything we are fighting for, by a corporate politician desperately looking to distract from her failures of leadership and politically bankrupt administration,” Sawant said. “Our movement will respond accordingly: we will fight with even greater unity and determination.”
This is certainly rich coming from Jenny Durkan. She is the same one who was fine with turning a blind eye to what was taking place in CHOP as long as she could use their actions to advance her progressive agenda. Now that things are going very badly, she wants to act like she was against it the whole time. Did Durkan care about other people’s safety when she was allowing CHOP to barricade themselves and avoid all police presence?
Of course she didn’t. Sawant deserves scorn of her own for being willing to open City Hall for a crowd of angry rioters but that’s another story for another day. The level of hypocrisy that is on display here is ridiculous. Durkan got her first taste of the riots and now she is done with them. It’s amazing how people act once they are given a taste of their own medicine.
Durkan has now decided that she cares about bringing people together. It’s a far cry from what she was saying before. Initially, it was all about looking out for the CHOP residents and making sure that they were okay. Sawant may have put people at risk with her actions but who is Durkan to say anything about that? City Hall may have been trashed but it’s not nearly as terrible as what was happening in CHOP.
The experiment should have been over as soon as shots were fired and citizens were put in grave danger. Sawant also stands accused of leading the march to the mayor’s home but what’s the problem there? She is down with the movement and should not be nervous at all. It’s funny how people’s opinions change as soon as they are confronted with the consequences of their own actions. Durkan needs to be taking a long look in the mirror before she decides to come for Sawant again.
She’s just as bad. Meanwhile, other Seattle progressives are trying to shift the blame for the CHOP shootings from the residents, placing the onus on gun dealers who are believed to have behaved in an unscrupulous manner. That’s a pretty convenient explanation and we cannot stop laughing. Even when they are trying to own the consequences of their ridiculous actions, they still can’t keep themselves from running off at the mouth. Hopefully, the citizens of Seattle can receive justice before it is too late.
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