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Posted on 09/20/2026 8:52:23 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Seattle has long been a hotbed of crime under Democrat rule, but things have gotten so bad recently that business leaders are publicly demanding change.
Seattle has long been a hotbed of crime, open-air drug use, and other antisocial behaviors thanks to the city’s left-wing governance. But things have gotten shockingly worse in recent months following the election of socialist Mayor Katie Wilson last year – so bad, in fact, that major businesses are now publicly pressuring the government to do something about the city’s descent into lawlessness and chaos.
On September 10, more than 30 major Seattle companies, including Microsoft, Costco, Starbucks, Nordstrom, Alaska Air Group, T-Mobile, Zillow, and the MLB’s Seattle Mariners, signed an open letter to Wilson demanding a “100-day public safety action plan.” The letter specifically called for an end to open-air drug markets, hiring more police officers, turning back on CCTV cameras that the city has turned off, and banning homeless encampments near public parks.
While the city cleaned up homeless camps to make a good impression this summer during the FIFA World Cup, residents say officials have looked the other way and let the homeless once again set up shop again near parks. Social media users have documented Seattle’s green spaces filled with trash, used needles, and human waste, making them totally unusable for families.
Just this week, a man was stabbed in a park near the Pioneer Square area of Seattle. While the area does have CCTV coverage, police were unable to find the suspect thanks to a measure from Wilson’s office that turned off the cameras because Wilson was afraid the Trump administration might use them to arrest illegal aliens.
The companies are also demanding a recommitment to seven-minute 911 response times. According to the letter, Nordstrom found that only 29 percent of 911 calls to its flagship location in downtown Seattle resulted in an officer even showing up at the store.
The businesses behind the letter commissioned an opinion poll on their recommendations and found broad bipartisan support (75 percent or higher for each), while also noting that only 34 percent of respondents said they were confident that City Hall has an effective plan to address crime. Mayor Wilson’s approval rating sits at a dismal 37 percent.
Businesses also want to see an end to the controversial “Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion” program, or LEAD, where individuals selling drugs or engaging in prostitution are diverted “away from jail and prosecution to case management and other supportive services.” In effect, this program allows “low-level” offenders to escape jail time for their crimes.
Eyewitness reports affirm the program is failing, since “residents keep on complaining about continuing prostitution, which creates the potential for continued gun violence,” according to The Center Square.
“The Aurora Avenue corridor has been a long-time center of Seattle prostitution trade, with many of the sex workers being minors, but neighbors say that gun violence has gone out of control in recent months,” the news outlet reported.
The city also faces a vicious cycle, according to the police union. Officers are ordered not to enforce so-called “low-level misdemeanors” which create a nuisance around business districts.
No one wants to shop in an area where the homeless are allowed to panhandle, use drugs, or commit other crimes. So, businesses close up shop, and once booming areas become deserted (the city’s core area currently has a 35 percent vacancy rate), more crime proliferates as criminals take over former business districts.
“We need to be business friendly,” police union leader Kent Loux said in April. “We need to be attracting businesses, and part of that is enforcing low-level misdemeanor crime so that businesses can flourish, pay their rent, pay their employees, and ultimately pay their taxes.”
But that won’t happen anytime soon under current leadership. Wilson issued a response to the business leaders’ requests which effectively amounted to, “don’t worry, we’re working on it,” but stopped short of any concrete commitment to the proposals outlined in the letter.
Wilson did then release a safety plan, but beyond vague pledges to hire more police officers, it largely focused on typical progressive language about “gun violence” and “community violence intervention.” In typical liberal fashion, Wilson’s plan involves showering millions of dollars on nonprofits and mental health services for teens even though the real problem is adult drug users and violent criminals.
Moreover, it appears that even police brass is totally unserious about addressing the severity of the crime problem plaguing the city. Interim Police Chief Andre Sayles recently drew national criticism after referring to criminal shooters as “trigger pullers.”
Sayles is the replacement for the last chief, Shon Barnes, who astonishingly lived in Chicago with his family and commuted to Seattle. He lost his job in the fallout from a disastrous response to a deadly food festival shooting in July. While Barnes was at a law enforcement conference at the time, the delayed response drew attention to his odd arrangement of maintaining a home in Chicago while working across the country.
Even some of Wilson’s fellow Democrats are becoming fed up with her failures. Joy Hollingsworth, the city council president, mocked Wilson’s ideas for sounding great in theory but failing in practice. “There have been too many people in this city that have workshopped their public safety dissertations on communities, right now,” the black female leader said.
While Seattle voters have no one to blame but themselves for the plight they now find themselves in, Americans everywhere should see the Emerald City as a warning of the dystopian vision socialists have for the entire country. Just as Wilson remains unbowed in the face of urgent pleas from business owners and law-abiding residents, so too will the growing legion of “democratic socialist” leaders refuse to back down despite the pain and suffering their policies cause.
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Click here: to donate by Credit Card Or here: to donate by PayPal Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you very much and God bless you. |
Most hard core dems in blue states are installed via election fraud.
Low IQ people get to live in low IQ societies.
It’s not that they don’t know....it’s that they don’t care.
Moral of the story... You get what you vote for.
She is doing something, dumbasses. She’s telling you to get the hell out of Seattle.
Waiting for her to give them a snarky “Byeeeee!”
The most important part of the whole article, BUT will Democrat voters get some quality learing from the facts? Going by precedent set for the last 50 years or so the answer is a resounding NO. D. voters live in a fantasy world where they are the perpetual victims. Their own stupid choices are never considered by them to have any bearing on whatever their current gripe is. It's always the fault of MAGA, "the rich", boomers, racism, etc.
There was a woman on YouTube with extensive facial tats complaining that she couldn't get a job because (she thought) of her tats. Gee, you think? Example: a "full sleeve" tattoo runs anywhere from a low of $2,000 to as much as $12,00 depending on how detailed it is. Uber eats isn't cheap, and neither is beer. And they wonder why they don't have enough money.
Well here is a start, move “Alaska” Air to Alaska.
Elections matter. No sympathy here.
Seattle got what they voted for no whining.
“Seattle has been a horror show for getting onto a couple decades now, first with their Luddite attitudes against any kind of modern technology, then in regards to any challenge to their intellectual supremacy. They consider themselves above criticism for their ossified thinking, and have not had a new idea in their entire lives, instead returning again and again to concepts that have failed everywhere in the world where these ideas and beliefs were previously attempted.”
The inexorable downhill slide began the night Alice In Chains played the Central saloon. December 28th, 1988.
Every day was a little worse after that.
:)
Below the asterisk line is the ONLY HOPE for Seattle. Namely, the Statewide Voters must elect a Governor who PROMISES to impose Martial Law on Seattle.
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Yes, the Governor of Washington State can legally impose martial law on Seattle. Under RCW 38.08.030, the governor has the explicit statutory authority to declare complete or limited martial law over any county or city, including Seattle, if they believe it is necessary to reestablish or maintain law and order.
Complete Martial Law: Subordinates all civil authority to the military.
Limited Martial Law: Partially subordinates civil authority by vesting additional police power in the military, which may try offenders in military tribunals or turn them over to civil authorities within five days.
Militia Deployment: The governor may also order out the organized or unorganized militia under RCW 38.08.040 and 38.08.050 when civil authorities fail to preserve law and order.
However, this power is not absolute. Actions taken under state martial law must still comply with the U.S. Constitution and are subject to federal judicial review. The Supreme Court has established that while governors have broad discretion, their actions must be “conceived in good faith, in the face of the emergency, and directly related to the quelling of the disorder.” Civilians may not be tried by military tribunals as long as civilian courts remain functional.
I love seeing voters get what they voted for.
When you vote ugly (in more ways than one) you get ugly (in more ways than one).
Exactly.
Thread: “...Seattle Becomes Crime Horror Show...”
That picture proves it. Seeing her lurking in the dark would scare someone.
“Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access to the mainstream of pop culture.”
—Rush Limbaugh first said September 11, 2015.
Because the ruin everything they get control of every time. For a good example, the left got complete control over the Smithsonian museum in D. C. They drove most of the honest American history out and now is a bureau of revisionist, black and Indian grievance, hate whitey "history".
Yeah, democrat "progressives" truly suck! They're clueless marxists and cannot be reformed.
““community violence intervention.””
Arm the good citizens and watch the problems solve themselves.
I first went to Seattle about 25 years ago. It was great. Clean, safe, I didn’t see any homeless downtown where I stayed. I had only gone back a couple times since. Last was driving through last year to pick up someone from the airport and visit the museums and space needle. What a dump. Pike market looked abandoned. The trash and homeless camp by the space needle were gross and smelly.
But they hired a black police chief. Every city that does that becomes a crime free paradise.
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