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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. |
Wait. I just saw all Seattle’s problems. There is one white man on the police leadership staff. The rest are blacks and ugly lesbians. It’s gotta be that white man’s fault.
People in Seattle are irredeemable. Only Jesus, whom they hate, can redeem them to sanity.
These business leaders should be imploring those voters to put pro Law & Order Republicans in office and throw out the commies. Asking the commies to change course is like expecting the leopard to change his spots.
| Event | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Growler Guys restaurant shooting | May 9, 2026 | 25-year-old employee Quusaa “Q” Margarsa was shot multiple times in the back after hours at The Growler Guys on Lake City Way by a 20-year-old acquaintance after an argument; the suspect later claimed self-defense. |
| Bite of Seattle / Seattle Center shooting | July 26, 2026 | Shootout during the Bite of Seattle festival at Seattle Center killed three people (bystanders Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba, 44, and Ashley Whitehead, 56, plus 19-year-old suspect Junior Cee Niko Semo) and wounded four others, including a 2-year-old boy. A 15-year-old was arrested; at least one other suspect remained at large. Believed gang-related; ghost gun recovered. |
| Belltown Labor Day weekend shootings | September 6–7, 2026 | Three fatal shootings in about 24 hours in Belltown: 20-year-old Isaac Rios killed near 3rd & Clay during a street takeover (others wounded); 23-year-old Tionna Simpson shot in the head and torso in a vehicle near 3rd & Blanchard (suspect later arrested); 17-year-old Kaleb Osborne killed near Elliott & Bell / Pier 66 (another person wounded). |
| Westlake Park beating | September 10, 2026 | 67-year-old man died after being beaten in a fight with another man in Westlake Park downtown. A 39-year-old Federal Way man was later charged with second-degree murder. |
| Rainier Valley / Beacon Hill vehicle shooting | September 19, 2026 | A man and a woman were found shot in a vehicle that crashed over a curb at MLK Jr. Way S. and S. Graham St. in the Rainier Valley / Beacon Hill area; both died. No outstanding suspects identified immediately. |
On the bright side, this one does not have neck tats up to her jawline.
“Exactly what she was elected to do.”
Exactly right. She’s showing those damn capitalists who is in charge!
In the mid 70s, I worked in the PNW from Longview to Tacoma, from Port Angeles to Anacortes, from Seattle to Wenatchee. Loved it every minute. It was wonderful before the Long Slide began. It’s amazing how badly our “D” cities have turned to sh!t in less than one lifetime. Unfortunately, human memory of what it used to be like is disappearing.
Nice.
“Feminism was established so as to allow unattractive women easier access
to the mainstream of pop culture.” — Rush Limbaugh September 11, 2015.
Lol
We stopped at the Target by Pike Place and 90% of the merchandise was under lock and key.
Tech companies are also doing their part to destroy Ireland.
You mean $12,000?
I find even the $2,000 hard to believe.
It’s funny. NY was nice when Rudy was mayor. It’s the bad guy element. No one wants to take on that necessary role. Blacks didn’t like him but when murders go down from 2500 to 1000 a year you got to assume that most of those lives ‘saved’ were black.
And then it leaks out of their heads right before the next election. They won’t stop until that once beautiful city is a heap of dung and dust.
look it up on google like i did
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